The senior Uncle filed this poem as part of the welcome to his youngest grand niece. She, being part Australian, missed the more classical allusions but seemed to get the drift.
Katy Beth Hall
A Family Thing
A welcome dear cousin with your two letter nameKT
to use with e-mail or texting.
Visiting relations in your Scottish country hame.
We hope to achieve what you're expecting.
Katy, diminutive, means pur, comes from Greek Beth,
pledged to - or house of - God from Hebrew.
Now half round the world a well travelled week,
..We gather today from all over to see you.
We must make an effort for our ties to remain
and get to know each other as we should
and when you return we'll meet up again
Fiona, Jon, Patrick, Katy
and any future brood.
And the Wife-not to be outdone came up with:
my Grandmother Sang Me a Song but I Don’t Remember the Words
__ __ __ __
‘Don’t pick your nose’ she said
But her voice was kind, her manner not shaming.
I don’t remember the teaching but
From her I learnt to love
The closeness of family with roots deep in our place.
She taught me to knit.
Now, I am the grandmother.
What learning can I give?
Not love of place, I think
So scattered as we are,
But love of the connecting bonds that weave us close
A family belonging
In this family,
Know that you are loved, Katy Beth
Even if you pick your nose
And even if you never learn to knit.
