The visit
My mother and went to visit her uncle and his family
they lived in the outskirt of the town what we thought of as posh
we took the bus.
Mother’s uncle was a foreman at an abattoir, therefore middle-class
in his wife’s eye.
When he came home from work his family, had two children
They had dinner in the kitchen, we sat in the living room
mother was given a cup of coffee I got a glass of milk.
When dinner was over her uncle came into the living room
I thought his hands were dripping with blood,
I think he gave her some money when his wife did the dishes.
We left, I was feeling angry without knowing why in the hall,
I said, have you got cats, no, his wife said? Odd I can smell cat ****.
Outside mother, scolded me for being so rude, but she smiled.
I never saw her uncle again nor his snobbish wife.
They never visited us, we lived on the wrong side of the town.