Michael Cunningham
The yellow boat
escaping the waterlogged harbours
of bath and basin, found its way
at the end of a piece of string
into the long grass of our imagination.
At the unmown side of Quarry Bank fi eld
where the big boys booted casey balls
it furrowed its pointless passage
through the overgrowth of docks and nettles.
More a block of wood than a model,
crudely fashioned, coarse-grained,
the yellow paint chipped and faded,
but worth a fight in our affections.
Until Mum could take no more of our wrangling,
moods, the noise or other tensions, snapped
and blazing snatched it from us,
threw it into the back of the fire.
I can clearly remember how before it had time
to catch I pulled it to safety out of the embers,
angry red to lose their scab of grey ash.
My brother also clearly remembers
how he saved it from the fl ames.
As I say, it’s a matter of historical fact.
Page(s) 17
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