Granny’s Chiming Clock by Guest Writer Richard Frew
credit internet
Summer days are here again
And we need a mini break,
Although we’re short of money
We have a holiday to take.
One night I had a brain wave
As I lay there in my bunk,
Perhaps we’d make a bit of cash
If we sold some attic junk.
We checked out all the paper
And found a car boot sale,
It was like an indoor market
Only on a grander scale.
I found a place to park the car
And spread our wares around,
We sold some things for fifty pence
And others for a pound.
A stranger asked about the clock
So, my wife gave me a call,
It had belonged to Granny
And for years hung in her hall.
The case was slightly damaged
And I’d never heard it tick,
I told him if he wanted it
Ten quid would do the trick.
The sale had raised some money
So we jetted to the sun,
I’ll not go into detail
But we had a lot of fun.
A bedroom needed doing up
And whenever we got back,
The wife sent me to buy the paint
And get the job on track.
I walked around the market stalls
And often stopped to talk,
Then I spied a trader try and sell
A wall hung chiming clock.
He guaranteed it kept good time
Though it was second hand,
But at forty quid a bargain
And none better in the land.
I thought I recognised the clock
As the one my granny had,
I’d sold it for a tenner and
That made me very sad.
I thought no more about it
And I’d never make a scene,
But then I spied this item
In an antiques magazine.
I gazed upon that photograph
In awe and couldn’t talk,
For there in brilliant colour
Was my granny’s chiming clock.
It claimed this fine example of
A Vienne eight day clock,
Was an antique classic timepiece
And the price was such a shock.
Three thousand pounds
Was what the buyer pai,
And apparently a bargain
To a man who knew the trade.
I was feeling really queasy
There was nothing I could do,
But try and learn from my mistakes
And to share this tale with you.
First published in: A selection of Verse By
Richard Frew 2005
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