Mustn’t Grumble
I knew you for more than 20 years
You are gone and I miss you more than I can say
All that time through laughter and through tears
You never once grumbled or complained
I sometimes asked if you were in pain
But “Mustn’t grumble” was all you’d ever say
Maybe the War was where you gained
The strength to remain so brave every day.
That determination. That cheerfulness.
I believe it was a legacy of that generation
Born in hardship. If you ever felt distress
You never allowed it to impact your conversation.
An East End child evacuated to Devon.
Yours was a good war; you enjoyed the countryside.
And found that the American servicemen
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Missing their families, were truly kind
To you and your friends, running free,
Roaming far and wide following streams
Playing jokes and pranks. You three
Children full of joy. All of you loving the green
Of that beautiful county, far away from the Blitz
Where London streets were filled with rubble.
Streets an entire generation had to quit.
Instead they walked fields of golden stubble.
Is that why you were so strong? I loved
To hear you talk. I always wanted to know
Your opinion – and honestly, you were never slow
To give it! Above all else the words that summed
You up. The words that always inspire me
You know that they are – they have to be!
“Mustn’t grumble”.
