Seaside

The see-saw backsides of obesity traverse across the promenade Led by bustling torpedo breasts thrusting through the hustling throng; Past tarnished chromium espresso bars, burger vans with frying lard, Ice cream parlours, sagging deckchairs and the sunlight blazing on. Splayed upon the greying sands with butts of cigarettes in shallow graves, Bikini babes in thin floss thongs, sun oil basted, lie and fry, The effluence of sewage farms foams ochre crests upon the waves, Cheap sunglasses and tinted shades warp vision as the seagulls cry. Or are they coughing in the choking rise of hotdog onion smoke, Or searing blast of diesel oil drove upwards from the fairground sprawl, And do they dive for fish and chips discarded by the glutted folk Until cholesterol weighs them down and they no longer fly but crawl? Oh, I did like to be beside the seaside in the golden memories of my youth, Before the tattooed mobs and greedy slobs and moguls came to town, And though rose-tinted, real dreams of childhood wonder sing of truth, But now I’d much prefer it if they torched and burned the whole place down.