#poem #poetry #amwriting #sketchbook

on salad cream days the neighbours would gather
unashamedly around the hedgehog pineapple and cheese
whiskey and light ale gin and bitter lemon
whilst the adventurous would indulge martini rosso

swirling wallpapered living rooms
dark t-junctoned hallways
hung with thick velvet like widows parlours
and blue newly appliance'd kitchens
in which guests would gather
to create inescapable village stories
indelible as spit

the world was brighter then
night sneaked with slower slippers
as we children knelt at the alter of the tele
free to turn the dial as we wished

the revellers would appear at the door
with offerings on paper plates
or some uproarious father's story
and invitations to help ourselves
to lighten up to keep an eye on father

then Norman in sky blue dress would enter
to wild cheering and whooping
and groping of his squeaking breasts

this was always a sign that the food was gone

the tele retreated to a single white dot
as we retreated to the mansion
beneath the table behind the cloth
to play out our parts in the proper way
fisher price farm mum dad and dog

and on the sofa the chiropodists wife
french kisses the local bobby with no regard
for the six feet of lapwood fence between them