On learning Welsh
Welsh
is a key to my childhood.
Every day I learn something
about myself and my upbringing.
It’s not the need to talk
so much as the necessity
of diving into myself
and mining my memories.
Brynhyfryd / Mount Pleasant.
Ty Coch / the Red House.
Pen-y-Bryn / the Top of the Hill.
This latter the house
in which I was born.
No room in hospitals
for war time babies.
All of my wartime family
born in the same in-the-country
Gower bed.
Three of my brothers
did not survive
those rough, household births.
I still bear the forceps’ scars.
And I still bear the scars
of carrying my brothers
with me all my life.
A long and difficult
and very private history.
But it’s mine
and I embrace it
and I love it,
with all its warts.
Comment: The photo is of the dragon in Kingsbrae Garden. I think of it as a Welsh dragon … Y ddraig Coch … the Red Dragon of Wales, but of course, it isn’t. Anyone can write easy poems: Twinkle, twinkle, little star … it’s the hard, gut-wrenching stuff that’s hard to put down on the page. My close friend, Margie Goldsmith, encouraged me to write this. Thank you, Margie. Thank you for caring. This is indeed my life ‘… with all its warts …’ It’s easy to wear rose-tinted glasses and see everything as ‘for the best in the best of all worlds’. However, it’s more difficult to grovel on your knees, in the trenches, and to come face to face with the stark realities of who we are and where we come from. Thank you, Margie, for helping me and encouraging me to do just that.
rogermoorepoet 
This is the right website for anyone who really wants to
understand this topic. You understand a whole lot its almost tough to
argue with you (not that I really will need to…HaHa).
You definitely put a brand new spin on a subject which has been written about
for years. Great stuff, just excellent! Also, there
is my method to Fall Asleep – Rain Sound for Sleeping https://youtu.be/IV82ccxmZY8
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Thanks for the rain sounds: I really do miss good Welsh rain, though I hated it at the time. All those rain-soaked rugby balls, as slippery as soap bars. There is only one problem with the sound of running water at my age …. oh dear … I’ll be back in a moment … !!!
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Lovely poem, very brave to right something so personal. Learning Welsh is like coming home. Dal ati!
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It is indeed. Unfortunately, Dal Ati isn’t available here in Canada, but I know there are other programs available and I have some links. Thanks for visiting and for caring. And yes, I do feel as if I have come home, after a long, long absence.
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Wonderful
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Thank you. This was a difficult one to write, but I got some help (and a little push!) from a caring friend.
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Wonderful!😅
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