Saturday 10 July 2010

Drive By Dreams & Seaside Themes


Drive By Dreams & Seaside Themes:
A Poem About The Great British Seaside

I pulled into a ravaged street
strewn with sacks of littered dreams
and policemen lay so fast asleep
as traffic flowed past hooded thieves.

The rays burned hard on suntanned arm
that hung outside my limousine
and girls would saunter down the path
in skirts that length was gauged obscene.
My shades were dark, I looked the part
I cranked the sound of heavy beats
and summer sun would make me sweat 
as I cruised into another street.

And people stopped, I did not care
I pushed the limo in spite of their
glares that strained a disbelief
I shaped my hand and motioned grief.
They scurried past , I laughed aloud
and turned the limo on the crowd.

But now I cruised the boulevard
its palm decked lines of disregard.
The beats that pumped as people stared
that shook the car and buzzed the air,
and women ran in jogging pants
with cheeks that squeezed beneath the hem.
I carried on down to where the slots
and lights would flash and bring them in.

I passed the rows of drunken sops
whose kids were left to run amok
and chase the sounds of grab machines
stuffing coins in plush filled dreams,
high on floss and candy rock
and sugar stains on summer frocks.

And tattooed man would cross the road
eyes on me he tried to goad
I squeezed the gas and edged on near
as bass was pumped his eyes showed fear.
And Whitney stood and smiled at me
her man was weak and I was king
but girls can come and usually go
the limo seats are where they show.

Fake Las Vegas bars and dreams
and seaside towns are hardened things
I push the limo further on
into the world where I belong


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image courtesy creative commons flikr 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordspudz/

13 comments:

moondustwriter said...

Thanks Pete - nicely done. The seaside has such a variety of memories for people. Lots of food lots of noise. You portrayed it well!!!

heatblast said...

You're seriously tempting me to head down the beach with this one, what with all those bikini babes you perfectly described walking down the streets, skin glistening with sweat under the sun's glare... I agree, a piece nicely done indeed!

Brian Miller said...

there seems to be an underlying dark current here pete...the guy in the poem is almost like a shark trolling the waters. the sttitude i think is what gives the impression. kept waiting for something to happen to solidify that but kept watching him troll that heavy feel on me...kinda like watching a shark...

Claudia said...

Ah Pete- well captured - I can imagine that driving around in a limo along a beach promenade in Brighton or where-ever gives you a different view - maybe of an outsider that has SOME interaction with the crowd but then departs in his own world again..?

Anonymous said...

Incredibly written "ride" through! I liked this very much! =)

desk49 said...

Quite a ride you took us on
Sleeping cops and hooded thieves
Of girls that worked the dim light streets
The homeless people you did scurry
Running the limo through that crowd
Did I hear you right? You LOL
Upon skid row you did cruse
Where kids ran in packs of more than two
High on floss, candy, rock and seven leaf dreams
The bass you pumped,
Made a tattooed man almost scream
And the girls on this street
Wont to take you to your back seat
Tho not in this town do you belong
You go there to help who’s dreams along?


Quite a ride

TALON said...

There is such a sense of disdain for all this world holds, and yet he belongs there -- as if he is one that makes money off the sops.

"Fake Las Vegas bars and dreams
and seaside towns are hardened things" -- so perfectly expressed. That's how I always feel when I end up at one of the tourist traps.

Kira Stann said...

I have been to places where I have felt this way. That's why I love going to Disneyworld, it has not disallusioned me yet! This is an amazing poem. You are so talented!

Anonymous said...

That was fantastic! I sense that there's something more to this than just a drive though...
Nonetheless, the pictures you've created with your words - of streets, the thugs, women, drunks, kids - good god! Brilliant!
Reminds me of my hometown (Mumbai)... the darker side of it, something that I didn't have to live thru' (thankfully)...
Good stuff, this!!!

PattiKen said...

Wow, you paint such a graphic picture, Pete. I could feel the thumping of the bass in my gut as I read it.

Anonymous said...

You really got into the psychology of this character in a way that left me wondering how he'd come to this point. Nice...

JamieDedes said...

Yes, drive by the false dreams and on into a world that is - presumably - real. Good job of illustrating false and fake and a character who, like a shark, winnows though it all moving on . . .

dustus said...

Amazing! deep, dark poem... even though far away, reminds me of were I grew up and spent so much time at the shore. The details you describe are accurate even where I'm from, and the flow of the lines is fantastic. Your poetry rocks!