While kids
comb the shore (for
seashells/pebbles/deadcrabs),
the adults
cross the sandy strip
to fill empty coke
bottles with
seawater.

Wiping before their
eyes, the holiday
a black-and-white
slideshow (dotted with
technicoloured
redball/yellowspade/greenstripedumbrella)

In fourbyfours now (beachsand
caught in candyflosshair,
trappedbetweentoes/stuckinseams/crumbedpockets),
they tackle
the halfday journey home
passing ultracities and themed playgrounds
(with goats/pigs/chickens in pens),
stippling the landscape
allthewayback
to the golden city.

Sitting quietly,
the coke bottles filled
(sandwichedbetween
suitcases/spades/woolworthspackets)

They are
tenpins, upright
as a conscience
appeased.