Crab Bait

Separated from the river by a sliver of shell
the boat glides as the girl guides it along
From water like glass the sun shoots glistening sparks
She listens as the ripples play their own special song

Propelled by the power of oars, arms and legs
they skim along as if they might fly
The curtain rises on a morning, the city stretching and yawning
watches on while as one they slide by

She controls each push and pull with short, sharp, simple words
that are condensed by the cold into vapour
No one else exists, except these girls and the winter mist
When wistful, this moment she will savour

When they win she feels she could walk on the water
Hoisted aloft and thrown into inky iciness in victory
And they laugh, and they’re young and they’re confident and its fun
She remembers the smell, the sights, how it used to be

She wonders what happened to that girl with the presence
and the passion and the poise, have you seen her?
She was going places, she would light up faces
When she was somebody, a contender, and a winner