I will share my cinnamon biscuits with you if you share your lemonade
It is so hot today
Above the beach the capricious kites entertained the passers by
Chines Dragons
Exotic Birds
Captain Pugwash
They all bathed in the cross-winds of the day
In a nearby café three children
Are eating creams puffs
They have been instructed to stay in the shade
To avoid spoiling their cakes in the bright beach sun
Two men and their pretty wives
Are walking towards the sea
They are playing
Ten Green Chameleons
With their children
Only they know the rules
Two young lovers
Are sitting on a memorial bench
I am happy that we are here
The hotel is most comfortable
Thank you for the ring
John Jenkins (1925-2013) used to enjoy the view with his wife Florence
She is dying in an Ashford hospital
Thinking of her late husband’s bench
John Jenkins (1925-2013) enjoyed this view
Remembered with love by Florence and the children
John Jenkins hated this view as he could see France on clear days and only thought of his fallen comrades
War is Hell he would mutter to himself
But he told no-one of his bitter tears and was gently remembered by a plain wooden bench
Facing France
In Heaven he smiles at the irony
Florence will join him soon
Their children have already ordered her memorial bench
It will be positioned near the pier
As there is no room left on the Walmer Path
Together in life and separated in death
In this small coastal town
Let’s walk to Walmer Castle today
The Duke of Wellington once lived there
I would rather visit the lifeboat station
We can do both
Where is the brass band?
Even brass bands deserve holidays
You will have to wait for an ice cream
Just look at those queues
One the beach a teenage girl watches as children play with many pebbles
They are supervised by their grandfather
Who creates marvellous games
Cow Stones
Favourite Stones
Let’s lay back and listen to the mermaids sing
Let’s draw faces with crayons on the larger pebbles and throw them in to the sea
He tells the children never to touch jellyfish
As some might sting
Although these are mainly found in warmer waters
It is good advice but quickly forgotten
The teenage girl
An only child
Would have liked to have had grandparents one and two
But she knew that her family was broken from an early age
And now she lives quite alone with her doubtful mother
She watches as the people pass
One might be her future husband
The boy on the bike looks nice
But he is too pretty
Probably vain
Another boy is too thin
He is ashamed of his body
And hides it behind tattoos
Maybe tomorrow
Maybe not on this beach
But she will find love
Near this timeless sea
Hidden in the grasses near the beach huts
Lies a brightly coloured DVD
It was purchased by an Italian who was walking with his family towards the town
The movie is called
I AM LOVE
Its loss will not be missed until it is too late
I will find another copy
They are so cheap these days
A child runs through the grasses
Look mummy look what I have found
Put it back you do not know where it has been
The child throws the DVD against a white beach hut in a small temper
The case breaks open
And the shiny disc is scratched by a sharp pebble
It will no longer function and will be used as a frisbee
By children and others who do not care for Italian cinema
The General Election is over
Everybody has an opinion
Groups of men discuss the result
I do not know why we have the sea here at all
Better drain it and join Europe once and for all
Enoch Powell was right
There will be blood on the streets
It has already been spilt many times my friend
Have you noticed that as women get further involved in politics they get fatter?
Their bodies swell
Fat arses and huge hips are the order of the day
Name me one attractive female politician
There are none
Wives tired and tattooed pass cans of beer and scold the men
Not in front of Riley do you have to take his innocence away
Not in front of Taylor do you have to take his innocence away
Not in front of Tallulah do you have to take her innocence away
They’ll only repeat it at school and then where would we be?
Used to be able to say anything in this country
Shut up and drink your beer
Even the beers are foreign
Used to be local
Finest Kent
On the coastal path
There is a man and his attractive wife
She is as blond as he is dark
Both are tall
The man is holding the hand of a small girl in a red hat
She is laughing
The attractive woman is pushing a green pram
With a child shaded from the sun
Sleeping soundly within its majesty
She smiles as she speaks
I am already in love with her
The child in the red hat runs on to the grass
And is chased by the tall man
Simplicity
There is a simplicity to their games
The child throws her hat into the air
It catches a gust of wind
But does not travel far
Do not get her excited
Promise her a milkshake on the pier
Do not wake the little one otherwise there will be hell to play
It is four o’clock once more
In a few hours the path will empty
And the kites will be hauled in for a rest
Seagulls and their friends will clear the detritus of the day
And only joggers and cyclists will inhabit the smooth evening
The tide will return with stories of daring
And the pier will close its gates
For a few hours so the fishermen might sleep
After dark the tall man will return to the beach
He will bury a plastic wallet deep in the sand
He does this on each visit to the town
For he does not live in Deal but far awa
The wallet contains a small medallion
That remembers Nevil Shute
It is an odd occupation
But he is left alone and never questioned
When his task is complete he looks out to sea
And searches for the streetlights of France
He wonders if by any chance
If there is man like himself
Standing on a quiet French beach
Looking out to sea
With a hint of despair in his liquid eyes