Precise and practical - a shirt cutter by trade –
Fred Warren was a family man, worked hard, self-made,
Not one for fuss, yet earned outmoded distinction
By being first in his street to buy a television.
A heavy dark wooden box, magnified small screen
To capture the day of coronation, toast the queen.
Something light for the ladies and the best pale ale,
A surfeit of sandwiches – ham and tongue. They hail
Elizabeth; Fred, his family, neighbours and friends
Crowded in a modest house. That man had made ends
Meet, he gave them occasion in the truest sense:
Asked for nothing in return for all that expense
But shared, with those who really mattered, history.
My mum tells his granddaughter over a cup of tea.
