Poem: Taffy
Books & Poetry
This week’s Poet’s Corner contribution is from Bethany Cody, reflecting on the life of a late great-uncle.
Taffy
1926–2012
Born of the beach,
a young man from
Taff’s Well,
gateway to the Valleys,
an immigrant living
along the flat
shores of Glenelg.
A great-uncle,
an orphan –
hard life,
harder mind,
wounded, weary
watchful –
given off at
the age of one,
taken advantage of
by the system
religion
the executor.
I remember you,
a decade before your death,
hospitable in your
unkempt apartment,
impromptu lunch,
talking with my parents,
seeded hamburger buns
mum checked for mould
on the sly.
You were always nice
to me; DNA passed down
from the brother you
loved to hate –
the lucky one,
kept by your mum.
Bethany Cody is an Adelaide writer of short stories, flash fiction and poetry. “I live in the City of Churches with my parents, boyfriend and two rambunctious spoodles.” She has received awards in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Campbelltown Literary Awards, a commendation in the 2018 City of Rockingham Short Fiction Awards, and a highly commended in the 2020 Shire of Mundaring poetry competition. Her grandparents arrived in Adelaide in the 1950s after immigrating from Wales.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to poetscorner@solsticemedia.com.au. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.
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