Today I took my daughter to the beach

Where water meets dirt

As a great man once said

Where roses bloom too early

Dew droplets

Drip

Seductively

From the petals of youth

Where lost souls

Dreamers

And the dreams they dream

All go to die

To be snuffed out

Where the grains of time

Meet the ravages of age

Where the brine picks out a heartbeat

Tick Tock

Smouldering on the shore

Where the smell of salt

Decay

And Chips

Mingle together

Like guests at a dinner party

Where the air is bracing

Refreshing

Good for you

Or just cold

Where the painted ladies

And muscular gentlemen

Waltz slowly along the pier

Listening to dance music

Wearing neon trainers

And fake smiles

Where the hopes of a thousand lonely teenagers

Have washed out to shore

Alongside cheap vodka

And pick ‘n’ mix

Where every guest house

Hotel

Or bed and breakfast

Is full of people

And devoid of life

I took my daughter to the beach today

We stopped for doughnuts

They were stale.