AN EXPAT'S LAMENT - A POEM

I'M A WINNER!  A forum to which I belong had a competition in July to write a poem on the theme of HOLIDAY. I won with this poem, written in memory of our many years in Tenerife. I should add that all of our visitors were welcome, and that this is tongue-in-cheek - honest!

IT’S NO HOLIDAY FOR US – an expat’s lament

We have so many visitors

we have to take bookings.

They bring bottles of duty-free

to an island where booze is cheap,

and a pound of mild Cheddar

when we requested strong.

For a week they eat our food,

use our electricity,

and leave hair in the shower.

‘Your life is one long holiday,’

they say,

‘It’s all right for some,’

as we drive to the beauty spots

for the hundredth time.

Then they buy us a meal,

and we leave them at the airport,

before going home to sweep sand off the floors

and wash their sheets ready for the next lot.