MOUSEHOLE ON A HOT JULY SUNDAY: A NEW POEM...

Mousehole On A Hot July Sunday

Mizpah, Spindrift and Driftwood were all moored

As usual, a stark reminder

That the harbour embraces

Summer too, when the weather seems kinder….

The Hole Deli, tea rooms and craft shops thrive

As usual, yet no grander,

But the clientele has changed,

For to summer guests the village now panders…

Soft sand cleverly disguises

The ropes, the detritus and the dull green weed,

Where now swimmers and sun lovers lounge,

Thus satisfying all their beach bathing needs…

Local kids perform like celebrities,

Jumping from the high quayside walls

Into the higher tides’ deepening waters,

With their raucous, shrieking, laughing falls…

Some dads push out their gym-worked chests,

Straining stomachs to register thin;

Others wear voluminous t-shirts as bags

To carry their obese bellies within…

Some kids resemble their mums

In movement and with some facial expressions,

But the smoking, the tattoos, the obesity

Are designed to ensure childhood depression…

There are buckets, spades, windshields and wetsuits, 

Surfboards, er, surfboards? Really?

There are balls, bats, paddling and noise,

As sun-reddened parents’ patience remains steely…

Pete Ray

July 2018

Mousehole’s two small sections of beach on a sunny, warm Sunday…

I am used to being there out of season with inclement weather about…