#

I was in a different shelter,
same sands, when gull wings
started strobing the sky.
In 1930 a fictional
blackmailer was stabbed
in a deck chair on this beach -
the clues are scribbled on the sea.
In Dreamland, previously Sanger’s,
(which also features in the book)
a man in yellow is bouncing a ball,
rain taps on the ground
and my baby don’t care.


First published in Reach, 2018. You can read more about Margate in our 21st century section.