The Local Mermaid

The Local Mermaid - Poem

2011-01-16T05:20:00.001-08:00

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

*

Published by Forward Press

In the Forward Press Regionals 2010

The Midlands and The East of England

*

http://authorsden.com/janeair

Photos below...

Seaside Photos

2010-08-23T06:44:00.001-07:00

Photos arranged in order of appearance in the poem.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Photo of Jane Air and photo of fishing boat both taken by Matt Bunting.

Edited by Jane Air.

Photos of witches and a wizard taken at Catwitches World of Magic.

***

http://authorsden.com/janeair