Skimming stones

Skimming stones

Across the water

Fathers teaching children

To find one all but flat

It helps you throw a ‘sixer’

We tell ourselves

That we could always do it

Watching as it bounced

All the way to the horizon

Every fifth wave a big one

Surf on a boogie board

Build your castle high boys

Watch it melt

When the sea rolls in

Catch a crab

Put it in a bucket

Ask to take it home

It was always a “No, it will die”

Follow in your father’s footsteps

Match every print he leaves

What happened to the belief

That he was superman

Does it make for good copy

Is the lustre just plain bluster

As truths dawn

In predetermined stages

Growth spurts

Can be carnal

Pulling dreams apart before they end

Until eventually, all seven veils fall

Was there ever any evidence

Of happiness

Were all family stories handed down

Until one day

Just like ‘pass the parcel’

They became ours

Is it how we remember everything?

Is skimming stones

More than parental bonding

Does it teach us to project

Something more than

A flat stone projectile

A miniature Barnes Wallis

A cathartic release

An escape clause

For the memories

We are never sure we had