Minkle Bites
Every day they sweep the beach
so pools where we sailed cork boats
and caught crabs and yanked winkles
off the weedy rocks have gone.
But sky is blue with lazy clouds,
waves dribble and lap at the edge
of the sea far out in the gleam
and I scrunch sand with bare toes.
Portsmouth is hazy today. Remember
the wall of fire from incendiary bombs,
diagonal searchlights catching planes,
the Solent packed with D-Day ships?
You’re younger than me, you probably don’t.
Remember our striped bathing suits
knitted from someone’s unravelled jerseys
and how they ballooned in the sea and sagged?
You hated the winkles cooked. Touching
and scraping the little brown doors
out with a pin made you scream
Minkle bites! Minkle bites!
Will I ever come here again to stand
and look at the sea and remember, now
I know your tide is going out
fast, and the beach will be swept tomorrow?
Page(s) 35
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