Late 1940s England
the square
was packed
& the high street full
meat&veg seemed plentiful
market barkers
drew the queues
with jokes
impromptu
shoppers filed
neat& formal
in sainsburys greggs
& home colonial
the bacon slicer
shuttled back& forth
rashers scaled
in halves&fourths
bread mealed smooth&strong
butter patted shaped oblong
cheese cut with twangy wire
toasted later on an open fire
ham sliced from the bone
spuds bagged weighed in stones
tea from open square tins
packet-served with a welcome grin
'woollies' snackbar smells
'elevenses' hunger time to quell
one mug of ovaltine must'nt dally
so shortcut thru' market alley
where auctioneers tones rise&fall
above the sheep&cattle stalls
then off homewards at a trot
last pennies spent in feaseys sweetshop
on the train bridge 'spotted' numbers new
waited whilst the 'cutler' raced thru'
along pebble brook time to climb a tree
on this day shopping was made coupon-free
the square
was packed
& the high street full
meat&veg seemed plentiful
market barkers
drew the queues
with jokes
impromptu
shoppers filed
neat& formal
in sainsburys greggs
& home colonial
the bacon slicer
shuttled back& forth
rashers scaled
in halves&fourths
bread mealed smooth&strong
butter patted shaped oblong
cheese cut with twangy wire
toasted later on an open fire
ham sliced from the bone
spuds bagged weighed in stones
tea from open square tins
packet-served with a welcome grin
'woollies' snackbar smells
'elevenses' hunger time to quell
one mug of ovaltine must'nt dally
so shortcut thru' market alley
where auctioneers tones rise&fall
above the sheep&cattle stalls
then off homewards at a trot
last pennies spent in feaseys sweetshop
on the train bridge 'spotted' numbers new
waited whilst the 'cutler' raced thru'
along pebble brook time to climb a tree
on this day shopping was made coupon-free
Walking down the quaint city street entering the sweetshop,
Oh yes! Hershey’s Almond Milk Chocolate tasty flavor
Sweetheart chooses sweet licorice and hot fudge brownie delight,
Sweetie pie and I flavor sweetmeat crystallized fruit.
Sweet tooth such a happy mouth vibrato to have;
Healthy sweet corn with sweet pepper and sweet-and-sour
Rest in front of my Dear Heart and I with a sweet pea,
Sweet cherry edible fruit on ice cream dessert, oh yum!
Sweet sultan annual herb varicolored flower in garden
Touches sweet acacia shrub fragrant flowers for perfumery,
Enjoying sweet basil on my sweet potato pie with my Sugar Love
Sweet nothings sound to wife trompe l’oeil painted photographic reality.
Sweet cicely herb white flowers brighten garden sipping
Sweet cider with cinnamon and raspberry shortbread warm
Soul with endearments, together speaking love honestly husband
Wife meshed together in all things sharing sweet clover; blessed.
Do you remember
When we were young
When everything
Was so much fun
Every Saturday morning
To the pictures we'd go
We'd sit with our friends
In the front row
We were ABC minors
And we sang our song
With the words on the screen
We'd sing along
Then after the show
We'd go off to play
And act out the stories
We'd seen that day
Then it was off to the sweetshop
With all our mates too
For a quarter of pear drops
And a penny chew
We would see the traffic
Travelling so far
And wonder what it felt like
To ride in a car
Oh we were young then
We were so free
And when we got hungry
We'd go home for our tea
But then we grew up
The days grew colder
We carried the weight
Of the world on our shoulder
Though our burdens seem heavy
And this life is a pain
When we remember
We are happy again
We can relive those days
When there was no pain
And forget our troubles
And be children again
Come fly with me in sweetshop dreams
throw caution’s doubt into the wind
laugh your face to pleasured lines
come board my plain and simple need..
oh let our bodies shed their gloom
see there.. before us distant laid
a flushed horizon’s fading glow
a green garbed castle in the sky..
all puckered you with mannish frown..
and doubts a’plenty in your mind
let rich selection fill your wings
come pick and mix all freedom find
sweet doubting heart. Come take your fill
a silk wrapped love here merry brings..
No liqu’rice threads or nougat feel
but more, a rich confectioned place
brim-full with honeyed almond strands ..
dark chocolate dipped ripe raspberries
hand held upon your sweetheart’s tongue,
a soaring flight of fancy brought
swirled an' twirled with sherbet fizz
to soon electrify a place, where is
a melting pot, rich roistering
awaiting weight of other’s sin..
so thus the weekend starts its test
with chocolatiers’s amazing craft
admired is he by others skilled
who knows full well he sells the best..
We played hide and seek
Running around the park.
And a game called british bulldogs,
It really was a lark.
Then there was scrumping apples
And getting chased off by the man.
How we loved knock and run,
Oh, how fast we ran.
Of course there was footie
Sometimes fifteen a side.
On tv we watched the flintstones,
And laughed until we cried.
The sweetshop sold gobstoppers
Or maybe a sherbet dab,
A shiny stick of liquorice
Or an exciting lucky bag.
Our parents couldn't get us in,
How we loved to play.
There just never seemed to be
Enough hours in the day.
But our kids are technophobes,
They think we're dinosaurs.
Scoffing at our 'good old days'
Thinking we were bores.
I despair at the internet,
Technology, at a cost
Children glued to ipads,
A proper childhood lost.
I can imagine in the future
There's a point our kids will reach,
All contact will be online,
They'll have lost the power of speech.
Fresh air, and playing out
Will seem a relic from the past.
I fear there's no going back,
For the techno die is cast.
Entry for It's The End Of The Forms Series - Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Broken Wings
5/10/2017
A shopping trip on a ghostly road could become quite frightening really. So leave earlier rather than later. And blow a kiss to the frog sitting in that tree over there. Go on. He really likes it and will belch blessings for your safety. In a sweetshop always try to ensure that any rounded shapes are either containing a powder or a chew. And dancing in the middle of the shop holding lolly sticks just does not look elegant. Ok Mr.Peter Peanut has now arrived in a smart van. With pastel printed shirt, tie, and boots he is sure to cause a sensation in the park. Great. Reading racing reaching radical robotic regales. And a majestic swan building drags itself up and enters the lake for a nice swim. As harmonic as a cup of tea in an acorn cup then. Ridicule not an appearance of a jellied chicken pizza, and take off no hat under an umbrella. Hahahaha fish dish wish. Xxxxx aquamarine z a p y q zzzz.
In Knotty Ash where magic lived
The trolley runs all day
The pillbox on the corner stands
Five flagstone from the bus stop
Outside the News and sweetshop door
The start of Eaton Road
The next left down East Prescot Road
Woodbourne winds around the back
An’ up above the nex las shop
Was where we ‘ad ar flat
The front door opened to the street
then straight up stair at that
With a landin’ an’ two bedrooms
With winders to the street
But if y’stepped two steps straight on
Past the bathroom door
You’d be in the famly
Dinin’ Livin’ Parlor Room
We called ar ‘appy ‘ome
With not much left but kitchinette
An’ veranda to stair down
The back garden had a shelter
Left over from the war
And three brick walls for climbin’ on
With a big door for the tea shop
And a single that was ar’s
Lookin’ back it was n’ much
But back then it was ‘eaven
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