It’s the sort of day with spit but no polish,

the sort of day when a neighbour makes hay

with my husband’s amiable manner

and extracts a maybe to sort out her fruit trees.

It’s the sort of day you say, It’s that sort of day

to help you get through. It’s the sort of day

I fall in love with a Japanese man

for the way he stands magnificently

in his trunks while his daughters play croquet.

It’s the sort of day a towel serves

as a skirt, and a jumper as a headscarf,

the sort of day eyes jump from horse rider

to horse rider in the bay. It’s the sort of day

a father drags a pram across the sand backwards,

the sort of day a fat baby tries to catch

fat feet, the sort of day when not just thoughts stray.