Five & nine – that Brighton
Line – a bingo caller’s code
for auld dears to gamble a
few hours away in Arcadia-
by-sea
Penny slots re-set
by inflation up to two-bob –
currency of my parents [&
that Silent Generation – a
two war crop]
Losses sit
alongside empire & right-
to-be-inappropriate – ired
by days & nights of shifts-
in-life
Our kids’ll do well
after those bingo cohorts
are gone – House used up
[no voting right-wings in]
& then that readjustment
on oil-marked Tarot cards
[as Arcadia is submerged
by a pension fund] – Long
bets misplaced [& wrong]