ODE TO KNITTED TEDDIES

(to comfort injured/sick children on ambulances)

They said to me
You should be ready,

To write some words
That mentions Teddies.
As it is so kindly meant,
I will try to be obedient.
Folks keep bringing me fresh wool
Different colours, bright and dull.
Someone else is keen and able
To make the basics, fit and label.
Local phones of knitters hum.
All our fingers are quite numb!

My friend Beryl likes to ask,
For further poems, quite a task!
When I settle down each time,
Nothing ever seems to rhyme.
In speech, the words come out a mumble.
On paper even more a jumble.
It’s quite enough to drive me potty,
You could say, the girls gone dotty.
In days when I was hale and fitter,
I never was much of a knitter.
Someone thought to keep me steady,
They gave me wool to knit a teddy.
I have been able to see,
Hundreds of teddies on TV.
My words keep muddling in my mind,
A trained psychiatrist would find
Me nuts-no if or buts.
My limitations well I know,
This is why I answer so.
I must not pen what I’ll regret
She’ll put me on the Internet!

By Gladys Tamlin 87 years old