Canal and River Trust
Megan Watkins

"I'm swapping her for money" I lie to my son
because his big spherical tears are falling on me,
and rain and willows are reflected in the silted
grey of his eyes.
He is thinking of the row of diamonds we painted
over her doors and the leaves we varnished
around to guard his bedroom; flames of sycamore,
blunt oak, dew drop clubs and spades.
We say goodbye to her before they come
to untie my knots and throw my ropes
with daylight laughter, with high visibility uniforms.
Like a stolen dog my boat will have no resistance,
I grieve the weight of her pulling at the shore
not the loss of leaf-mould money I pretend exists
to my son, who doesn't care for that anyway.
He cares about patterns on wood
and the sound that moorhens make
and not to disturb their tyre and polystyrene homes.

Megan Watkins is based in London and has had poetry published in Magma, Tears in the Fence, Ink Sweat and Tears, Antiphon, Brittle Star, Smiths Knoll, Rhino. Her note on the poem: My experience is of boaters who have lived on London canals long before it was regeneration/Olympic territory. The Canal and River Trust has every legal right to impound and repossess a boat for fairly minor infringements - in my case this happened within 2 months after 10 years of boat ownership. The people in question have chosen to live outside the system, don't have an address, money or representation and this leaves them vulnerable, they lose their boats and lose everything, and are advised by the Canal and River Trust's newly appointed "Chaplains" to go to the council for rehousing.