Holidays brought Aunt May
Mum’s younger sister.
Very loud, very forthright
Took over where ever she went
Our house was no different.
Tuesday after she arrives, Mum’s vacuuming
Bang, crash, scream – Mum!
What’s that god awful noise? Aunt May
The vacuum, I think it’s blown up.
Aunt May considers herself a handy girl
Has a look, shakes her head, scratches,
It’s sucked the grub Gert.
First time I heard that expression
Aunt May had that look of certainty about her.
You think?
‘Fraid so.
Aunt May had a wardrobe of these sayings
For such erudite company as this I shall stick with this one
As most of the others are not fit for this page.
For me it began a life long love of the saying.
Anything broken down, smashed, of no longer any use
It’s sucked the grub.
I usually have to explain, as it is confusing
I’ve no idea where Aunt May found it
Nor its original context, as Aunt May died
Well before I had the urge to ask her.
So it’s a saying we know it’s meaning but not its origin.
I love it, as it’s funny to say.
Try it, go one say it: ‘its sucked the grub!’
Aunt May was never pretentious
Very practical, very direct
You knew where you stood with her.
Most times when a saying came from her mouth
It came with an air authority.
It’s fun to drop into conversation, heads turn
There is a collective ‘What?’
I’ve not heard many others use it
Thankfully I consider it mine
My contribution to our bank of idiomatic sayings.
So next time in your world something breaks down,
You know what to say.
Written for: http://pookypoetry.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/poetry-prompt-confusing-figure-of-speech/
Morpethroad 