Coronation On The Tele Poem by Charlotte Peters Rock

In 1953 the television came
A big brown wooden box
which coddled a tiny screen
behind the glass

On either side a knob to twizzle
but my dad said If you touch
the screen will all explode
So we didn't

We watched the tiny Queen
waving from her big glass coach
-except it wasn't really glass
except the windows - not the wheels

The neighbours crowded in
to borrow sugar - or to see the prize -
sitting on our mam's armchair arms
refusing to go home

And as the Queen was seen
they clapped and cheered as if the Queen could hear
and waved their little Union Flags
just like the crowds in London

standing in the rain all day
to see the people passing by
The enormous Queen of Tonga and her son
- and boring Heads of State

Children wet and waving flags
were standing on their daddies' shoulders
Some were clutching guardsmen's trouser legs
and waving from the gutter

But we could see it all at home - and jockey with the neighbours
Our mam spent all the programme making tea
and moaning as the milk was running out
and missing all the Queen

06Feb1997 CPR