The Walker

The Walker & Our Pete Sez by Andy Jackson

Guest contribution by the poet Andy Jackson

Andy Jackson was born in Salford but has lived in Scotland for thirty years. He has published several collections of poetry and has edited a dozen further anthologies and online projects. He was Makar to the Federation of Writers Scotland in 2017 and is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow for the University of Stirling.

Andy has a special interest in poetry for funerals and is co-founder of the Lonely Funeral Project in Scotland. He was a supporter, adviser, and contributor to the SICA’s Sharing Words project and we’re delighted to have two audio submissions from him for the 2025 phase of the project.

Andy’s second poem is a sort of template we can all adapt – Our Pete Sez. Andy writes:

 At a funeral it’s very difficult to sum up a person’s life in a way that works for everyone; we all
knew a slightly different version of Pete depending on who we were to him. Some knew Pete the
life-partner, some Pete the father, the grandfather, the brother. In my case it was Uncle Peter,
but to others it was Pete the work colleague, Pete the friend, Pete the person you met and said
hello to once in a while. Pete the child, Pete the teenager, Pete the man. Yes, the same person,
but somehow slightly different for each one of us.

I offer a short patchwork of recollection gathered from family, friends and work colleagues.
Thank you to all who have helped with this – you know who you are. Not all of it will mean
something to you, of course, but I hope you catch the echo of Pete’s voice and his character in
some of the lines.