Vinegar Smile – Written Thursday 5th March 2026 (Aged 51)

Vinegar Smile

Maybe I will go back this year,
back,
maybe,
this year;
look out,
it is me clinging —
to the world’s longest pleasure pier.
Maybe,
this year,
maybe I will sit down —
with those amateur builders
who with love and care built my youth,
those people
who laid down my foundations,
added walls,
then a roof.
Maybe I will go back this year,
back,
maybe,
this year.
The seaside
is not really mine;
I just claim it
as part of a timeshare
one for which I feel
I’ve paid for in time.
But,
really,
there is no actual desire
to be back —
just me
caught in its tide lines;
I know they are not life lines,
or even bylines,
and now,
they are not even tag lines.
Maybe I will go back this year
(this year)
and for a while —
I can dine out
on seaside fish and chips;
one where I wear
a vinegar smile.

James Garratt – Thursday 5th March 2026

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https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/2020/01/08/the-boy-behind-the-glasses-an-introduction/

More poems from 2026
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/category/poems-and-writing-2026/