In Platt Fields

The scullers' oars, and flurried mallards, make
Cheap jewelry glitters on the boating lake.
In frocks or shirtsleeves, families pass,
Slow rhododendron-chiaroscuro mass
Along the asphalt paths. Lines queue
Outside the tea-rooms; or at the tiny zoo.
Transistors tune into Australia,
Relay the rugby league test latest score,
Graining the air, insistent as flies.
Youths sunbathe on dry grass, drink in the skies
That spectral cirrus skeins; or else eyes stalk
The girls with arms and midriffs bare who walk
In twos along the broad curved promenade,
In high-heels, townly as nasturtiums bred
In terrace-gardens. Too white, too slim, their legs,
This first weekend of sun. They swing smart bags,
...