West Pier
It may have been the 1970s –
it may have been Brighton –
but no one can confirm
when my father saved a pier
I was railing high –
navigating the gaps in the planks
with a slender fear –
a cheap thrill
as you walked above the sea –
and below – under the bolted timber –
waves hypnotised the iron work
The tang of salt over candyfloss
was taken up like Friars’ Balsam
through your head –
as we passed the rides
Dad saw smoke
a daft smoulder rising up
from the deck
and we stopped – bent –
to look for timbers –
for them burning
but it was just
a cigarette butt
still curling
PC 883 -as he was at work –
called out to an attendant
and the fag was drowned
with a red bucket –
marked ‘FIRE’
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