matiness and evenings slightly out to sea

on Cromer pier (parking is discouraged)

you may walk to try the salt sea air

and perch slightly out at sea

where the air is free and watch

 

a show for all the family

on Cromer pier  (heckling is discouraged)

the lovelies dance like dragonflies

in a celebration of gauze.

 

The council has installed LED

necessitating a slight increase in ticket fee

but the air is free and its all

in a good cause

 

to preserve these fragile seaside forms

because these shows are under threat

development edges ever closer

and would take over the sea itself

but Cromer pier dares encroachment

on its spindly legs.

 

Theatregoers stare down through the boards

seasick with anticipation of

a minor celebrity emblazoned in poster reds

and yellows all on a tilt

where eddies and ripples jostle the silt.

 

It's all a dream somehow intact

and the local news sheet will attract

devoted readers for their column

to be snipped out and lovingly pasted

by doting parents, no detail too small,

no glory wasted with eyes set fair

 

to distant shores,

the lure of monoculture cruises

to transport those dragonfly dreams

while Cromer pier awaits on tiptoes

the rolling in of winter pantos..