MUM'S WARDROBE AT CHRISTMAS... (Growing up in Shard End, Birmingham...)

 Mum’s Wardrobe At Christmas…

It had hidden depths.

Was it mahogany?

Dark and foreboding anyway.

Huge, heavy, hulking,

With a small key.

But I knew with certainty

Where some of my Christmas presents would be…

They were hidden beneath

A clothing miscellany.

Hands were fumbling anyway.

Quiet, quick, quaking,

New annuals to spy.

But I savoured the opportunity

Then withdrew hastily, quite nervous and spry…

Pete Ray

It was always the same. 

The ‘Roy of the Rovers’ annual, the ‘Charles Buchan’s Football Annual’ and the 'Dennis the Menace' annual would be bought by my parents some weeks before Christmas and I usually found them hidden in mum’s dark and huge wardrobe, when she had popped out to the shops in Shard End, Birmingham on Saturday mornings. 

I would check that they were still there at every opportunity.

Never though, would I peek inside. Just touch and hold them, before replacing them beneath the material and clothing at the bottom of the wardrobe. 

And still I showed surprise when the wrapped books were opened on Christmas morning…