when grafters break for stop fortnight, get seaside-reckless
enter stage left Scunthorpe’s fops: students; feckless
page-turning hands briefly shocked by dirt
lifting pints of weak bitter to the glory of their work
dad’s years of doing something he didn’t like
for school exchange and Christmas bike
gifts to a son fumbling for a family’s wrought past
staring in wonder at his own shadow cast

I looked too far down when I cleaned out the furnace
not realising raw materials may have higher purpose

not thinking how iron and steel could make bridges

This poem is inspired by Carol Rumens’s Jarrow and what is happening in my hometown of Scunthorpe, where my dad used to work on the blast furnaces, gas plant and other sites at two of the town’s steelworks.

Poetry on the Picket Line is a squad of like-minded poets putting themselves about to read their work on picket lines, in the spirit of solidarity. Invitations to rallies etc welcome, contact facebook.com/p/PicketLinePoets. The new Poetry on the Picket Line anthology is available at culturematters.org.uk