From Brighton Beach Poem by Frank Bana

That was the joyful moment
The seafront at Brighton Beach
Sunny,7am, July
A Filipino couple, I would guess
Smiling at me from a bench
As I strode forcefully to the beats
And Zulu chants of Johnny Clegg
In English, Afrikaans and French

And it was the moment then
There came the jolting of regret
Like a lightning bolt at evening
When clouds are angry in the desert
I knew for certain as I walked
The Kalahari had wrecked my life
I knew Brighton, I could not return
Or remember who I had become.

Reaching for that instant of happiness
That blows away like a promissory note
Elusive, drifting out to sea
I can't be young like a disco-goer
Or feel at home in a shebeen
I'm sitting by the shores of Zanzibar
The rocks of Praia, the Skeleton Coast -
All the harbours my soul has been.

But this is England, here, today
And it is joyful in my eyes
The girls are careless, lovely
The children, Mums are beautiful
Everyone with a partner
Of a different colour or size
And I feel beautiful to be alive
The warming sea bathed in sunrise
Opens its arms for you and me -

And this moment is your's and mine.