Andy Millican

Glossop, UK

 

 

Andy Millican is a poet from Glossop. He has been writing poetry for many years. He has won several minor competitions and been placed in many more.  His poems have appeared in various anthologies and a number broadcast on BBC Radio. To commemorate the centenary of WW1 he was invited to write, perform, and record for posterity an audio series of poems for the Lest We Forget website, a Lottery Funded project.

He is a regular performer at Manchester Central Library Open Mic nights and other open mic events.

Nebulous is Andy’s first published poetry collection. He can be contacted on andy.millican@hotmail.co.uk

Two poems    8th April 2020 Touch     11th May 2020  Zoom

 

Poem written 8th April 2020

 

Touch

 

Grandparent fingers press the pane of glass

and mask the pain of loss which they can feel.

The children, two and four, no longer ask

if grandma’s face and fingertips are real.

 

At first there was this novelty and fun,

when grandad squashed his nose up like a snout

and snorted his impressions of a pig.

Then the younger one did not want to come

or stood quietly back when grandad shouted

her and just stared at anything he did.

 

This may be a memory of their future;

a nightmare from a Covid-19 past

that fundamentally changed their culture,

unaware how long the damage would last.

 

Poem written on 11th May 2020.

Zoom

The guy in the tie, a local MP,

has a beautiful arrangement of books.

By size they reside so viewers can see

how immaculately tidy they look.

 

The nurse whose purse sits behind her right ear

has a veritable mishmash of shelves,

of photos and logos, some sadly unclear,

of colleagues and friends enjoying themselves.

 

The doctor has lots of journals and mags,

a mountain of books plus pencils and pens.

A card with a hard warning about fags,

a tie pin supporting Prostrate v Men.

 

Don’t judge the backdrop of people on Zoom,

be they rich or poor or the young and old.

In lockdown, the sanctuary of someone’s room,

should be a secret never to be told.