A Poem for the frustrated family history fan
Why didn’t I ask great aunt Ethel? How could I have known I’d be here Gazing at old family photos And papers from her yester year. And All those family mysteries My Aunt who knew what they were All shrouded in secrets that couldn’t be told If only I’d thought and asked her. I remember so well all those Aunties And Uncles who fought World War One Sitting around our table at home From Ypres, the Somme and Verdun. My grandmother born in the workhouse The stories that never were told The mother she lost to ‘madness’ When Nana was just two years old. What happened to those who left England? Did they settle and find a new home? The passenger lists cannot tell me Aunt Floss in her day would have known. The photo of the Nan in her garden - She’s smiling at me from the past As I wonder about all the names on my tree She’s saying “if only you’d asked”. Christine Miller January 2021
