'Mad Dogs and Englishmen...' (I.P.)

By Silver Spun Sand

Fri, 02 May 2014
  • 981 reads
6 comments
 
Towels at the ready - bag the sun-beds...
slap on their Factor 10   He gets in
the beers; she orders Pina Coladas
on the side, or a couple of Long, Slow,
Comfortable Screws Against the Wall...
depending of course, on the waiter.  
Erstwhile, they top up their tans
round the pool.
 
She gets bored, though. Why don’t they 
venture outside...beyond the cloistered walls
of Hotel Paradiso? Rather quaint; like venturing
back in time, she observes – tossing a lad a coin
for a necklace made from shells.  Small price
to pay to be shot of him; hot on their heels 
round every corner. 
 
That night they dine on langoustine – remark
how good it’s been to mingle with the natives. 
Mention how civilised they seem, all things 
considered.  Take that kid, earlier...no shoes
on his feet, and his handiwork was an apt gift 
for a sister with a taste in crap, so the necklace
would suffice, admirably.
 
She hopes tomorrow will be nice, what with
flying home, and everything. Nice drop of plonk, 
this would-be-Chardonnay. Of course, one takes
with a pinch of salt, that lad’s T-shirt. ‘HIV
Positive’, it said.  He’d no idea what it meant. 
How could he have?  Didn’t speak, she was sure,
one word of English.  
 
Jangles the coins in his pocket; home – at last, such
as it was; a tent, fashioned from a scrap of tarpaulin, 
pilfered from a building site; yet another high rise, 
seven star gem – Burj  Al Arab, to further punctuate
the skyline.  Wets his lips at the well – all but empty.
With a bellyful of rice, it’s amazing how bright
the stars seem tonight, and so he wishes on one –
shines the brightest, that tomorrow will come .
Threads another shell...
Certificate 15
Poem
Silver Spun Sand Poems
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Bee on

So sad. You build the contrast of the holiday fun and annoyances against the boy's reality so well. It hits you at the end, making you see the whole thing again in a different light. 

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thank you so much for reading this, Bee, and for your thoughts.  

One thing that hit me in the many times I visited the U.A.E. in the past, was the stark difference in living standards between the Arabs, and the rest of the population; many living there purely to be employed on their extensive building projects.  Now, of course, fuelled by the ever growing rise in tourism, although in the early eighties, when I was first there, this hadn't yet materialised.

Tina

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

How bored and empty the hoiiday-makers seem in their play somehow in the picture you've drawn so well. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thank you, Rhiannon.  Pleased you thought so.

Tina

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Your descriptions had me right there in the picture Tina.

Only never having been to that country,  I suppose I don't really have any idea what it's really like.  So thank you for your poem.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

You're more than welcome, Jenny.  Pleased you enjoyed.

Tina