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THE SANDS OF TIME

Times were rough for the Punch and Judy Man

this year harder by far

until with the arthritis kicking in

Samuel hit rock bottom.

With health and safety measures newly imposed

looming large

his enthusiasm for the seaside art

like the tide ebbed away.

 

On that fateful day

while Mr Punch, Judy, the Policeman

and The Dog were silent and stiff

Samuel drew a blade across his swazzle throat.

 

The children watched as the sand turned red,

thought it was part of the show,

until the parents pulled out their phones

and put the kiddies' dreams aside;

while Samuel's body remained inside

the sands of time ran out.

◄ JULIA THE PECULIAR

A DAY IN THE LIFE ►

Comments

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raypool

Tue 20th Aug 2019 20:34

First off I'm happy to say I'm back on voice again after ferretting out my mp3 player, which worked ok. Happy days.

Don, that was a nice comment thanks. May I say it seems to be well rounded and balanced appraisal !

Spot on David. You know me so well. I do like to mask deeper considerations in strange disguises, not least for their entertainment value, but you may be right; inThe Entertainer (Archie Rice) played by Laurence Olivier you have a tragedy working out. Or indeed Tony Hancock as the Punch and Judy Man. A well thought insight as always!

Thanks Brian - yes the swazzle was an essential bit of kit which we always associate with "That's the way to do it." Performers are fairly insecure to start off with, often averse to parting with money for that very reason.

Graham, thanks for reading and giving this your seal of approval.
I'm fairly comfortable in this genre, pretty weird shall we say.

Thanks all - have nice days.

Additionally I appreciate the likes from Des, Taylor, Devon, Adam and Blackrose.

Ray


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Graham Sherwood

Sun 18th Aug 2019 16:04

Yet another wonderful old tradition being hounded out of existence by the PC brigade. Nicely written in a faux-flippant way. As the man himself would say......'that's the way to do it'

Graham

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Don Matthews

Sun 18th Aug 2019 15:03

Brian - Thankyou for arousing my interest and looking up swazzle. It is also now firmly embedded in my brain. Not sure if anyone stocks them here any longer.

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sun 18th Aug 2019 14:38

I had to look up swazzle...it is now printed indelibly on my brain.

Performers probably more than anyone fear the day when they will no longer be relevant. You've painted a good picture Ray.

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Don Matthews

Sun 18th Aug 2019 13:15

Oh Ray.....what a 'story' (for want of a better word) you have portrayed here... So well written. So sadly 'true' in some cases, I suspect.

I particularly was impressed with the last stanza. And the lines:

'The children watched as the sand turned red,
thought it was part of the show'

So good.... The innocence and naivety of the young still living in their make-believe world.

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