UNDER THE TABLE 

Here is a story about Grandfather Isaac

Grandfather Isaac and my Aunt Rae

She wasn't an aunt really

She was a friend of the family

On Friday nights and seder nights

She was always there

Sitting next to

Isaac whilst Isaac said the prayers

Grandfather Isaac he loved his wife Sophie

Grandmother Sophie she loved him too

He wasn't short of affection

But he was prone to depression

When that descended Sophie would say

Why don't we think about inviting round Rae

And as soon as he saw her the dark clouds would lift

And the three of them would laugh about that and about and about this

If Sophie knew she didn't say

Neither did Isaac or Rae

But under the table their hands touch

It's all they're able to do and though it isn't that much

A power that's so hard to resist

Arcs across their fingertips

Wound up like coiled springs are they

Grandfather Isaac and my Aunt Rae

Sophie and Rachel were Primary School teachers

To the immigrants' children down Chapeltown way

And though they shared their secrets like best friends do

There was this one subject that was always taboo

Things were not open and free like today

Emotions were stifled and hidden away

Grandfather Isaac had a strong moral code

And though he may have been tempted to go down that road

He favored the status quo

And he stayed on the straight and narrow

But under the table he strokes her knee

It's all that they're able to do where no one can see

That was far as it went

But both knew how much more it meant

Their hearts never came out to play

Grandfather Isaac and my Aunt Rae

Rachel grew older

She never married

No one she encountered

Could take Isaac's place

She kept a tiny picture

Of him In a locket of silver

And many years later

On the day that he died

She clutched on that locket

and she cried and cried

Imagining everything for better or worse

And remembering the warmth

Of his hand holding hers

Under the table Isaac and Rae

Speak with their fingers

What their mouths dare not say

And somewhere in a parallel land

Isaac and Rachel are publicly holding hands . . .

And that's where we'll find them today

Grandfather Isaac, Isaac and Rae

Grandfather Isaac and my Aunt Rae