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| A bomber's moon, quilt photographed at NT's Lyme Park. Garry Lomas |
Quilt border poem
a bomber's moon is
a full moon for seeing
you're tucked away, no messing about
feather bed in those days
goose feather, duck down
blanket an army coat
long bloody nights when it was cold
the moon's up, owls about
rats rattling in the long roof
under the slates, you can see stars in the gaps
brown paper under the sheets to soak up damp
sheep lice keep you warm, with your itching
the midwife arrives
my brother Harry, my sister Aletia
a horrible winter in 1929
looking after sick children we'd light a fire
boiling water when my son had the croup
stoke the fire up
water and salt, do your best
come Christmas pluck the goose, keep the feathers
lambing time January to May
watch out for the swallows
and the cuckoos too
in the quiet mornings
the swallows every year
fly 3000 miles to be with us here
open the door for them
Group poem
The Farming Life Centre
From the arthur+martha project Stitching the Wars. A two year collaboration with older people in Derbyshire, producing two embroidered quilts, a book, interviews and a series of poems.
More poems found here. A short documentary film about the project found here.
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