SMALL WOODEN BOATS

The small wooden boats
Travelled from overseas in my dad’s briefcase

Harboured now on the shelf above my bed

Their shadows like waves

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The blue paint on the wooden hulls matching the tub of Nivea
with my mum’s fingerprints in the cream

Invisibly soaked into me

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I’ve hidden memories, stories and secrets
Like old shoeboxes in wardrobes
I have avoided reflections in mirrors
And jumped over cracks in pavements

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The smell of stew on a winters night
Or half-baked cookies from the oven
Potato cakes all crispy with butter
Plates laden with love and soul

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So many memories, postcards and phone calls
Like laundry blowing on the line
I have been lifted up by my reflections
Drying the tears in my eyes

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From houses built in trees at the garden’s edge
To castles built of stone and sand
Every car journey was an adventure
Destinations to explore and land

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So many memories, photographs and echoes
Like Christmas decorations up in the attic
I have returned home through my reflections
Mending the cracks in my heart

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Long have I sailed away from that childhood
With story books and love wrapped days
That’s why I have become
Who I promised to be

From back then, to now and always

So many memories, photographs and echoes
Like Christmas decorations up in the attic
I have returned home through my reflections
Mending the cracks in my heart

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So sail on strongly
Like a small wooden boat
Carrying its treasures
On a make-believe wave