POEM FOR BRIGHTON (UK)

Poem for Brighton (UK)

I hated you when I was a kid
Your cruel & merciless ways,
Those endless hours at the
Railway station dreaming of other
Places/ Your colours transfused my blood,
Short-sighted my periphery,
& I left you, there, on the platform,
Dressed in yesterday/s furs & flaking white paint
Never/to return /the same.

Fat Boy on a beach/
That cheesy seaside tack
Rusty pier & cold grey sea
Salt laden air on everyone’s lips
How you got your name
remade yourself gay –
lanes & lawns,
Gardens & alleys & bi-ways,
Those gilded bars
Iniquitous dens with shaved butch bouncers,
The dross, floss & electric fight nights . . .

Bric-a-brac & opportunities lost
Gas lit nights & neon days under umbrella skies
Bank holiday weekends on motorbikes
B&B adultery & roller skates
No one told me you’d become a trend,
Got famous for sin; again, pinky
These days I miss you - the pavements,
Bazaar arcades, silicone smiles,
Even despite the memories, bad love affairs
& your underhand wiles.