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Writer's pictureDave Urwin

Where were you when the deckchairs were washed away?

Updated: Dec 6, 2023

A poem from last night's open mic


Where were you when the deckchairs were washed away?


Two deckchairs stand on a stony beach.

In the one sits a half-peeled banana

and a magnifying glass.

In the other sits the British Prime Minister,

who says, ‘Love is a phallic diamond, pure carbon;

I want one’, over and over, over and over,

over and over.

‘Love is a phallic diamond, pure carbon, I want one.’


They have a banana in their hand;

its peel drips over their wrist.

The horizon bores like a laser

grey sky, grey sea.

They look out to the sea

and so does the banana.

A bicycle bell is clipped to their nose.

Go on, give it a little ring:

ting-a-ling

ting-a-ling

ting-a-ling

A long, green thread of mucus dangles.


Oh, the stripiness of this!

Oh, the stripiness of that!

Oh, the stripiness of everything!


And who are those wounded, hunched figures

emerging from the sea?



© Dave Urwin July 14th 2022




28 views4 comments

4 comentarios


Miembro desconocido
07 dic 2023

Bonkers but brilliant

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Alison Blevins
Alison Blevins
03 dic 2023

Love, love , love this! Anarchic, wild and some how madly makes sense?

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Alistair Scott
Alistair Scott
30 nov 2023

The 'Deckchairs' poem is wonderful. Conjures up images straight out of Salvador Dali painting ... both bizarre and arresting. Very memorable!


As for the title of the second - I feel that, given the powerful subject matter, particularly the contrast between the domesticity of the first stanza (washing on a line, coffee, flowers in the garden) and the raw images of the second, 'This and That' doesn't quite do justice to the poem. But that's only my 2-pence worth for your consideration.

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This and That - Good Title !!!

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