Paignton by Ben Benyard

The precinct is alternately

pound stores and charity shops,

pasty flavoured rock and broken biscuits,

gormless boys and fierce girls.

Dream catchers and gollies,

fridge magnets, buckets and spades,

elderly couples sip tea in pavement cafes.

Scooters snarl up the seafront,

sand castles stomped by yobs,

donkeys who can tell a tale or two

about the faded peeling hotels.

Families in matching anoraks

eat chips out of polystyrene trays

on benches in memory of the forgotten.

And yet we flock in thousands,

walk hand in slippery sunscreened hand,

collect sea glass to catch the light.

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Ben Banyard lives in Portishead, near Bristol, UK. He’s the author of a pamphlet, Communing (Indigo Dreams, 2016) and a full collection, We Are All Lucky (Indigo Dreams, 2018). He blogs and posts mixtapes at https://benbanyard.wordpress.com.