WATCHING UNCLE SHAVE.

[dadio]

Your Uncle Ed
shaved in the kitchen sink
using a cutthroat razor

gazing in the small square mirror
set on the draining board
where the big window

gave him plenty of light
and you used to stand
watching him as he set to work

on his cheeks and jaw
and under his nose
and the dog

in the basket
under the stairs barked
and Uncle said

shut up you hound
and the mutt would bang
its tail against its box

and you looked in
the box at the mutt
and said

quiet Bob
no need to bark
and Uncle got off

the last of the soap
with the razor
and washed his face

with hot water
from the kettle
and dabbed his face dry

with a big white towel
and there were spots of blood
where he nicked himself

and he said
don’t shave boy
it’s nothing

but a waste of time
and effort
because it just

grows back again
and after dabbing dry
his face

and sticking bits of tissue
on the wounds
he went off to dress

leaving you
and the mutt
and the banging tail

and you rubbed
your smooth
7 year old face

with your hand
and said to Bob
I ain’t never

going to shave
and you stared out
of the kitchen window

at Granddad’s flowers
growing in the small side bed
and the white bench

at the end of the garden
where you used to sit
with your grandparents

on Sunday afternoons
watching the blue skies
and telling them

all kinds of dreams
and childish lies.