Just up my road, and do a right and a left
Is the house where my life was weft
11 Cranmer Avenue
Not too far away from my First School
I still remember as a child sitting outside on the wall
Waiting for my older brother to come back clutching his satchel
Knowing that one day my time would come
But then, my days were about playing with my star wars figurers and having Fun
I lived there for about 7 years with my brother and my dad and mum
I remember we had rabbits, a cat and a dog called Bootsie
And in the front garden we had a fern tree
I slept in the bottom of a bunk bed
One day my brother pushed me off the top bunk and I hit my head
And broke my collar bone
But I have fond memories of my first home
It was during those days when I believed that Father Christmas would come
It is where I first learnt to ride a bike, and was read books by my mum
One day we went to the hospital, because mum was having another baby
On the way back home, mum gave us toys and said it was a present from him to me
Then at home there was five of us, me, dad, mum, David and now another
And I asked my mum a million questions about why we have a new brother?
I used to wake up in the early hours and take my new brother downstairs
And make him breakfast, which I got from the cupboards standing on the chairs
Mum said I have to be careful as he is a baby and I could make him ill
And mummy should feed the baby, or he might end up in hospital
I had lots of friends in that house, and we played on the streets and on the wasteland
But mum said I should not wonder off or talk to strangers, but I didn't understand
I had a plastic milk float with wheels on it, and I used to ride it around the block
And get felt tip pens, and make snakes out of dads smelly sock
Dad used to come back home late at night, but he used to bring me star wars toys
And used to tell me how much he loved his boys
We used to have a beige car I don't know the make
Dad said, "It's was so fast that no other car in the world could it overtake"
Then one day, mum and dad said we had to leave the house and move out
I wanted to live there forever; I didn't know what they were talking about
We moved down the road and around the corner, to a bigger place
Mum said we needed too, as we were running out of space
25yrs on, I still walk past 11 Cranmer Avenue, almost everyday
And gaze up into the gutter where my star wars figures lay
When I threw Hans Solo up in the air after making him a parachute
And these memories of childhood, I will never substitute
I see myself sitting on the stonewall
Waiting for my brother to come back from school
I see that small boy turn and smile at me, as if he recognises me and knew
That I am the man who still thinks about his life at 11 Cranmer Avenue.
