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I think there’s something wrong with my mammy,
Cos when I asked her what time we had to leave
For grandaddy’s 70th birthday party,
She said, “I’m not sure”,
Which was strange because – well not really actually,
Cos the same thing happened last week,
When I asked where the sugar was,
And I’d seen her pick it up just a second ago.
I had also asked her for something before that,
But I’ve forgotten now.
Anyways, where were we?
Oh yes, my mammy.
That ain’t all by the way,
Cos the other day when she was sleeping,
I woke her up to give her the tea she just asked for,
Cos she said her head was hurtin’,
And she woke up with a right start.
Didn’t even recognise who I was!
I’ve been her son my whole life by the way,
But she looked at me like I was some foreigner,
Someone she’d never met before.
I’m not sure what that was about,
Cos she remembered me once I told her.
I’ve really been trying more lately,
Makin’ sure she eats her supper every night,
Helping her to the loo and back,
Listening to her and her stories.
The ones about papa,
How they would walk down that one road together,
Shrewsbury Lane – she never forgot that name,
But then by the time she was done,
She couldn’t even remember mine.
“You sure you’re alright ma?”,
I would ask her.
“I think so, Gabriel,”.
My name ain’t Gabriel.