All is good now.

All is good now.

“I am of a mind.”

My great Uncle Tom

Would say.

“I am of a mind to…

And here it became a joke

We as children would

Wait

Mouths open wide

Eyes agog

As he rolled the words around his mouth

Invariably he had taken

His teeth out

Better to taste the food he said

But he was a man of many faces

Some of which were lined and crusty

Whilst others danced with

Laughter lines

His eyebrows wriggled

By accident or design

Hairy caterpillars chasing each other

Across his forehead

The ghost of a nystagmus

As his eyes danced back and forth

“I am of a mind…”

Often we would never know

As he chose that moment to quaff

The last dregs of a pale ale

His after-lunch refreshment,

In those balmy summer days

When air conditioning

Meant keeping the windows open,

To keep him cool,

He always ran hot

Or so he said.

He drank Cocoa in wintertime,

He was on his own there

As we didn’t like it

Cadbury’s hot chocolate

Was a sweeter brew for children

But I was never too fond of Horlicks

At bedtime

Which seemed like a punishment to me.

“I have a mind to…”

Sometimes he would do a crazy hornpipe

His legs swayed this way and that

The thinking woman’s Elvis

Is what he said

Which didn’t move me at all.

But he did sing Only the Lonely

With gusto

And I was always intrigued by

A man who wore dark glasses indoors.

“I have a mind to…”

Once upon a Sunday

After Chapel

He stood in the middle of the road

Opposite the police station.

We knew the sergeant

His name was Argyle,

His daughter was Shirley

I wonder what happened to her?

She was a good kisser

As I recall

But I digress.

Uncle Tom stood in the middle of the road

Wearing my Grandmother’s

Pinafore dress

And directed the traffic.

What there was of it

On a Sunday

In a colliery village

In those days.

But he did a very fine job

And received a commendation

At least that is what he called it

When he was released

On Monday morning.

My mother said he was a colourful character

Dad called him a daft ha'porth

Which didn’t do him justice

I am of a mind to…

Call him my

Great Uncle Tom and he was a fine

Enough Uncle to me

Even without his teeth

And wearing a pinafore dress.