Street Life

[Magpie]

These streets are best avoided,
they narrow to a bottleneck
that swarms with the wrong type
endlessly pounding the pavements
eagerly looking for their daily fix.

There is nothing in this world
that can save my worried soul
for here come the tourists.

Everywhere I look, tourists.
Smiles as wide as the Atlantic,
big shiny eyes full of wonder
and muscular camera holding necks.

Yellow rain-coated, baseball capped,
kilted, sock and sandal flaunting tourists
with questions inside questions on top of questions
about haggis, bag pipes, monsters and "lake Loch Ness".

"Can haggis fly? How big are they? 
Have you seen Nessie? Where's your kilt?
Say something Gaelic?"

"Amadain, Amadain" I tell them.
They ask me what it means.
"I am English, I am English", I reply 
and they shuffle off with a disappointed groan.


Note: Amadain is Gaelic for fools