In Search of Cockles - Diane Scantlebury

I wonder where my cockles would be?
Pondered the small child
As she examined her knee,
She’d heard mummy say
That they could be warm,
So was there a cockle
Hiding under her arm?

Did daddy mention about the sea?
To reach them
Wouldn’t you have to go by boat?
So I wonder where my cockles could be?
No way could cockles
Be inside my throat,

Mummy also said something
About a bottom,
Surely that had to be
The wrong part,
The mystery of the cockles,
Why they needed heat
And kept you smiling,
What on earth did they
Have to do with your heart?

I’ll keep on searching for those cockles,
Who knows what I’ll find?
When I get them
I’ll put them somewhere secret,
And hope mummy and daddy
Won’t mind!

Diane Scantlebury