The Great Storm

At Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire,
A block of flats collapses;
A man is trapped in the rubble. Well, well, well -
And this was the place I spent my earlier years in!
The first time, I'll be bound,
It's ever got in the news.

The pier at Shanklin, Isle of Wight,
Likewise is destroyed - its amusement arcade.
This I remember too. If you inserted a penny
The gates of a prison-model swung open
To reveal the condemned cell - the victim prepared,
While the little puppet chaplain, in his white surplice,
Bobbed up and down, desperately praying;
There were film shows you could likewise work -
Rin Tin Tin, the benevolent and enlightened
Alsatian dog; and what the butler saw -
Which was mostly underclothes; a self-operated
...