His Cousin Was a Plumber

His cousin was a plumber,
is still I guess.
A practical no nonsense plumber
from London,
the East end.
His childhood was cobblestones,
abrasive sharpness of bricks,
thick lipped saucy tarts
that were only worse
than the bully in #4.
Rushing home to Mum,
smelling of stale tea
and lavender,
with school boy blushes,
embarrassingly evident above his collar.
But now he's a plumber.
A practical no nonsense plumber.
A real man
in a real man's profession.
Blushes, tea and lavender
left gratefully behind
on the cracked East end cobblestones.