The Local Mermaid - Poem

A glimpse of circus dome

To 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

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Published by Forward Press

In the Forward Press Regionals 2010

The Midlands and The East of England

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http://authorsden.com/janeair

Photos below...