Chelsea Street

Chelsea Street

Playing in a cobbled street

I hear the clatter of children’s feet

Little friends from long ago

Who skipped in the sunshine and

Made slides in the snow

Childish voices with happy chatter

Ring the air with jokes and laughter

Round the lamppost they do swing

Bumping heads and bruising shins

Boys whiz past on home made gliders

Others queue for ice cream sliders

Mothers gossip at their doors

While dinner stews upon the stove

One last game of ‘kick the tin’

Before my mammy calls me in

Washed in a basin by the firelight

Hair brushed till it shines

Cheeks red and bright

Into my nightdress then up the stairs

I kneel on the floor to say my prayers

God bless Ernie Anne and me

God bless all my family

Tucked up in bed all cosy and warm

Familiar sounds of the night go on

Like the train on the tracks shunting along

The noise from the Shipyard

Where men worked till dawn

The boats in the loch blowing their horn

Saying ‘Goodnight Jean sleep till morn’

These are my memories of Chelsea St. East Belfast

Where I was born and reared.

Jean Burns nee Briscoe