Poetry Pleases: The Conker
In this poem by Maggie Smith a conker symbolises loss and mortality.
Last week it shone, burnished,
Smooth as Grandpa’s rarely worn shoes,
Preserved for best – too precious to waste
On everyday pavements.
Polished, it was, by nature,
Not his weekly brush and wax
Whether necessary or not.
Today it lies dull and faded,
Consigned to the compost heap,
Like the knobbly bin bag I took to Oxfam
After his funeral.
(Harrogate University of the Third Age)
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