Hi Christina,
Not to lose a sixpence??? I sort of feel you might have a more innocent 
reading of this than I did when I first read it!!!!
I guess you must mean you've had a tanner in your hand for the donkey ride 
(I'd probably have changed my mind and bought a cornet!).
But the next phrase: "sure footed those donkeys!" sounds so grown up! Too 
much like the comment of an adult. And, even though the poem seems to be a 
struggle with an individual's childhood and adulthood I'm not sure which 
sure be so prominant just here.
But the rest is great.
The "my" in the 1st line, the "your" in the last line... subtle, powerful.
Bob

>From: Christina Fletcher <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: New sub: Father
>Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 05:25:51 EDT
>
>
>
>Father
>
>Imprint in my thick skull
>the knack of words and trick of laughter.
>Teach me to turn time to bright days
>on Jaywick Sands, not to lose my sixpence.
>
>Sure-footed, those donkeys: the way
>their branded hooves negotiate the path
>as bells jingle and their long ears prick
>to pick up distant sounds.
>
>Train me to hear what's beyond this city's sirens
>and my own babble, to see
>past tower blocks and to draw true lines
>in your long, lost memory.
>
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>christina fletcher