As a boy,
I remember
Chasing through allotments
On Saturday,
While dad turned potatoes
And dug the Kentish clay.

I remember
Playtime on slides and swings,
Their arms all thick with rust
And in summer months
Iced with Kentish dust.

I remember
Nibbling a milky bar
Back from the ‘rec’
And playing flicks with cards
Against a neighbour’s wall,
(Winner takes all).

I remember
The sledge on Holly Hill
And the cement works
That made me ill.

I remember
The Tonibell that called
With wafers like sea shells,
Or cones, for a treat
(Once mine fell in the street).


I remember
The first long walk to school
With my friend and his mum
And falling from my bike
When I was young.

I remember,
As a boy,
Being weighed in the chill
Of the clinic’s scales
And now,
As a man,
See how scales
Weigh me still.