Sustained

Sat outside

By the straw bales

After a good lunch

Of cheeseburger, with tomato relish

Followed by

Peach and raspberry de-luxe ice cream

On the eleven-twenty to Newcastle

Complete with face masks

The only two

To board at Corbridge

But then we are travelling off-peak

As a means of economising

You Do The Math

Thomas Ellis

Painter

Decorator

Glazier

Signwriter

A tradesman

Serving the shopkeepers

Of this northern

Historic abbey town

Which closes at 4pm

Actually

The Deli at Number 4

Went home early

Or closed the shop

To prepare coleslaw

The building society

Has moved next door

Their building

Taken over by Dickinsons

Who were established in 1878

 

Inland Vacation

In Cartmel Square

The workers they congregated

Talk of the maidens bare

And the squire's suspension of shame

In the monastery temple

At Manjushri Kadampa centre

Shoes taken off at the door

Hands sanitised and face masks worn

A formal meditation

At fourteen-thirty

With flowers, offerings

Among images of the Buddha

The skylight is only a skylight

There are no stairs to climb

Nor any viewing platforms

To look out to the bay

Prudhoe Castle

Should we or should we not

Pay the entrance fee

Including a donation to the trust

But we have bought

A bicycle pump

And there are safe places

Hereabouts

 

Day Trippers

Ferns and moss

Fallen down trees

Footprints in the bogs

Sands and salt marshes

Bushes by the doyen’s dozen

An artisan baker’s shop and café

A quiet place

A busy place

A place once so full of tourists

On platform one

Waiting for the train

To Silverdale

Two stops down the line

Alongside the estuary

From Grange-over-sands

To the RSPB’s sanctuary

At Leighton Moss, with the ducks

And a coronation chicken sandwich

Paint is peeling

From the glass window

Staring out into the station’s waiting area

 

Steady Does It

Matilda climbed on the rockery

But was told

No, no, no Matilda

Absolutely not

But who gave her the name

In the first place

Sat, on the promenade

At Grange-Over-Sands

On the last Saturday in August

In this, the year of the pandemic

Opposite the telescope

Which looks out over Morecambe Bay

Children race each other

On their push-along scooters

The girl says that she is the winner

Are all girls, and boys, competitive

Kate has gone to the café

For coffees and vanilla ice creams

The proprietor says that they do all kinds

Including cappuccino, yes, he did say that

Patches of blue sky, ever so slightly

As Pink Floyd might have said:

Obscured by Clouds

Maybe they had played here

Back in the day, in August