Talking to my Father
I liked it best when you sat by the fire
and hollowed out pipes for me
from rosehips I’d picked and matchsticks.
Sometimes you twisted toffee wrappers
into rows of silver goblets
or told me to hold my breath
while you built me a house out of those cards
with the woman on, skipping in the bubbles
on a glass of Andrews’ Liver Salts.
At Hull Fair we shared a carousel horse,
a toffee apple and a guilty fascination
with the bearded lady and the five-legged sheep.
Back then I think it must have seemed
as if there would always be a balloon man
to twist a squeaky dog with my name on.
When did it happen I wonder
that we started to become the reflections
we shrank from in the hall of mirrors
and how is it we can talk again
like we did on the way home on the blue bus
when I fed you rubies from a pomegranate?
Page(s) 18
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