Congratulations, Annie and Rob!
25th August 2020
Dear George
At last: you have arrived!
May you be happy, all your life.
We don’t mind that you turned up late
Except – my goodness, what a weight!
How hard your Mummy pushed and heaved;
And Daddy said, I don’t believe…!
Because you almost broke the scales,
Which so alarmed your Gran in Wales.
And as if you hadn’t done enough
By turning out so big and tough –
The very day that you were born
There blew up an almighty storm:
Big ships for shelter all did run
While noisy Neptune had such fun;
The sheep were scared, so were the cows;
And apples got knocked off their boughs.
Down at the shore, waves thundered in:
No children dared to try and swim;
Even grown-ups didn’t have the nerve
To venture into that boiling surf.
When someone tried to fly a kite –
Kerrack!, and it was out of sight;
As for that lady with her brolly –
She should have realised, such folly!
About this storm, it’s very clear:
They’ll talk of it for many years;
Nor will your parents forget about
The story of your popping out…
And maybe when you’re older, and much less farty
And you announce your birthday party –
On every radio station, that morning
They’ll be giving out a DANGER WARNING.
Composed on Marloes Sands, the afternoon of Storm Francis.
