A glimpse of circus domeTo a giant ice cream cone
Standing on the street
As you walk on past
*
To vast kaleidoscopic rays
Of sweets and treats on displays
From jars of humbugs and drops
To stripy sticky sticks of rock -
- lettered through
Numbered with e numbers
And too hard to chew
And dummies and lollipops
That stick to teeth like glue
*
Through the shell curtains
Of a souvenir shop door...
Golliwogs and voodoo dolls
Doll houses and dolphins
And shelves on spells
And shelves of shells galore
*
A myriad of the mystical
And mythological ;
Fairies and mermaids
Witches and wizards
*
Fridge magnets ;
Seahorses
Crabs and lizards
*
Then through the
Jingle jangle jungle
Of electronic jumble
Competing beats from
Amusement arcades
Along the streets
*
Cartoon character caricatures
- giant, garish and grotesque -
Grin at you inside arcade desks
*
Past the funfair
A crocodile ride up in the air
A carousel
An empty ghost train
Giant teacups
And toy planes
*
Prizes to win if you dare
While jazz tunes, soft rock
And hard metal blare
*
A pirate ship hangs off a cliff
Where crazy golf is played
While back on the sand
Sandcastles are made
And donkeys parade
*
Past the stripy row -
- a rainbow of huts
The 'Bathing Beauties'
To be hired and admired
Bright and bold on show
And a puppet theatre
For a Punch and Judy show
*
Climbing over
The shoulders of sand dunes
Leaving behind the spectacle
Of the staged seaside sets...
*
To stretch of sky
And stretch of beach
And stretch of sand
Beneath your feet
*
To the gentle hum
And murmur
Of the sea
*
To starfish on the sandy beach
In dangerous reach of children's hands
*
To the skulls of baby shells
Cracking underfoot as you walk
*
To the squawking and screeching
Of seagulls in the air, tracking
And trailing a fishing boat sailing
*
And of jellyfish beached, beware !
Invisible blobs on land
And nippy crab claws
Nipping bare feet
*
Clusters and clusters of clams
And shingle of
Razor shells and...
*
The local mermaid washed ashore
Waiting for the sea to collect her
So she can ride the waves once more
*
Published by Forward Press
In the Forward Press Regionals 2010
The Midlands and The East of England
*
Photos below...
