The Medina Thread

[Verse 1]
Arthur darns the frayed green awning of the Number Five ferry.
It’s the last week in September, the tide is in a hurry.
He feels the engine’s shudder, a tremble in the steel plate floor,
same sound his father knew the whole length of the war.

[Chorus]
They're gonna break the thread that holds two shores together,
and we're already ghosts here, in this chalk-cliff weather.

[Verse 2]
He winds the chain, a slow, unspooling memory of rust.
'Soon be all Tescos and tourists,' a woman said, disgusted.
He thinks of his father, knuckles white against the brine,
saying “jeszcze raz” beneath the West Cowes council sign.

[Chorus]
They're gonna break the thread that holds two shores together,
and we're already ghosts here, in this chalk-cliff weather.

[Bridge]
And the weft of this water is woven with his name,
a boy's reflection staring up, caught inside the frame.

[Outro]
...holds two shores together.