The Quay, Exeter
I was not born by the water.
I was born in a packed out,built up, cholesterol filled
borough of London.
The nearest I came to water
that did not come from sky or taps
was when it was a sunny weekend,
and the mood struck Dad to pack up the car
with the blue and white ice box,
two half-finished lemonade bottles,
a bunch of bananas,
and some ham sandwiches,
before heading to Southend.
Currently, I am stood on a bridge
over the River Exe.
It is windy,
I lick my fingers,
tasting the scalped top of the sea.
I want to find a corner of it
to peel back like wallpaper
that has come unstuck.
The banks have overflown again,
last year it rained 652 millimetres.
Am I the only one who names each wave Noah?
Watching them break
like sins against an angel’s breast.
Aisling Fahey
My Dad used to always put salt on the sandwiches. It turned them into mandwiches that made me flinch.
ReplyDeleteI longed for my mother's sandwiches: user friendly triangles, all the playground favourite fillings lovingly neatly wrapped in earnest silver foil.
But it was just me and dad now, the days if the fun triangular kids sandwiches were gone. I smiled bravely at my dad as I nibbled around the edges of this daunting sandwich. My dad was brave, I would make myself brave too. Flimsy, silly, triangles, that just wasn't my dad, my dad was strong, and I'd have to be too now.