Pier over here

The Guardian publishes a Bank Holiday special: Vona Groarke's "The Pier." It's a happy poem, which critic Carol Rumens considers nearly a paradox. An excerpt:

Nod to a fisherman propped on a bollard,
exchange the weather, climb the final steps
up to the ridge. And then let fly. Push wide,
push up your knees so the blue nets hold you,
wide-open, that extra beat. Gulp cloud;
fling a jet-trail round your neck like a feather boa,
toss every bone and sinew to the plunge . . .

Read Rumens analysis this week (and every week) here.