The Light in the Passage – a poem by Carol Stephens

The Light in the Passage

 

Percy, centre of my heart.

Strong, bold, passionate.

How I long to hear his voice call

“Mother, I’m back.”

Hear his strong footfall on the stairs,

feel the weight of his hand in mine.

 

I know he’ll return. I’d send him the key if I knew where he was.

So I leave the light on in the passage and the key in the door.

 

This poem by Carol Stephens was written at a workshop at our exhibition Heart of Conflict, at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro.

Percy Lidgey, a mine carpenter and rugby player from Redruth, died at the Western Front. His body was never found and his mother never accepted his death, leaving the light on in the passage and the key in the door for many years afterwards in case Percy returned.

For more about this, click here.