Climbing My Grandfather
by Andrew Waterhouse
I decide to do it free, without a rope or net.
First, the old brogues, dusty and cracked;
an easy scramble onto his trousers,
pushing into the weave, trying to get a grip.
Andrew Waterhouse was an English poet and musician who died in October of 2001. He won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2000 and the Northern Writers’ Award that same year. His life was commemorated in works by four poets, commissioned by New Writing North.
I decide to do it free, without a rope or net.
First, the old brogues, dusty and cracked;
an easy scramble onto his trousers,
pushing into the weave, trying to get a grip.