SIGHTSEERS
-
Peter
Robinson (U.K.)
In
this city that’s just lost world heritage status
(the
Pier Head is not the Taj Mahal)
an
open-topped sightseer bus
has
paused for traffic lights
at
the corner of Booker and Mather Avenue.
Back
now in my Liverpool home
after
a four-hour drive up here
I’m
taking a siesta with windows flung open,
can
hear the pop and boom
of
a red-coated tour guide’s microphone.
In
this city that’s just lost world heritage status
he
tells his cruise-ship holidaymakers
ashore
on the Costa del Merseyside
of
Menlove Avenue and Forthlin Road.
But
even if only blue suburban skies above
and
not true all you need is love
that’s
still no reason to denigrate us, like,
with
our accents, cathedrals, our historical shame
as
the bus turns left to get on with its theme
through
this city that’s just lost world heritage status
taking
you down in a dream.
****