serendipity walks the streets of my memories
long forgotten moments from my childhood past
like looking through a mirror of faded glass
cockeling in mud at backwaters of Poole quay
making toffee apples
fun days at the sea
there were punch n Judy shows then
johnny onion came to call
he straddled onions on his bike then
we went rabbiting across the moors
though the nights were dark n dreary
with candles for our beds
there was speedway trips each Saturday
wireless accumulators in our granfers shed
the bunk man came to call
when i didn't go to school
every village had its idiot
many folks liked to play the fool
they rang the bell at school then
we wrote upon our slates
we often had the cane then
for talking or being late
we ate our sherbet dabs then
played conkers and gave chase
we were told to wash our hands then
or germs would cause our fates
i wore a cap to school with a satchel on my back
i learnt the twelve times table
to fold my arms and wait
we went to the flicks to see tom mix
gene autry and the rest
though Roy rogers was my favorite
long time before Georgie best
though those golden days are gone now
i remember the eleven plus test
the school bus and the crest
the ink wells and the smudges
the playground where we froze
in winters of severity
our coughs and my dripping nose
the summers they were long then
the memories they slip by
when i was just a boy at Poole
eating bramble pie