STANLEY COOK

Lancashire wedding

Swaying from side to side, with sheep looking on From under crash barriers broken in places, The road took the car on its back towards the summit; The mist shook out in the wind like a wedding veil. Somewhere within the drizzle were unfinished tops Of the Pennines, steaming and settling, And over their back we arrived at the wedding. Different this time, for I and my brother and cousins Were the new old generation, the legendary Aunts and uncles of our youth no longer with us. Since them, the times or we ourselves had changed And nobody dropped an aitch; what went for wit Replaced what went for Northern humour once Around the table (not to mention speeches). On the way back, life, as ever, let down The party balloon - stopping at a washeteria In mistake for a snackbar and wondering where We could get some bread so late.