The Last Boat
Do you remember when we took that boat
sunlight
I got there early to wait for you
I had on a dress and my shoes embarrassed me
they were too loud for the morning
Could you feel us standing
while we watched the men prepare
move in their work like ropes
and the way the barges touched
In the difference between the cold inside shade
and the bright light of that Saturday
they carried you
Our eyes did not adjust, we only watched
Once I took a boat trip
from the mouth of one wound to the edge of another
with your nephew and daughter and you
Gabrielle Meadows runs workshops in improvisation and storytelling for young people. She is also a voiceover actor, and formerly worked in London for a poetry events organisation. She has a son and lives in Norfolk.