Ice lolly

 

The red ice-cream van

Looks delicious itself –

Imagine then, its wares.

Glittery soft wrappers,

In choicest flavours –

Watermelon, raspberry, kiwi

Ice lollies, cream and sundae

All 6-sigma tested;

Which kid wouldn’t want

Such a summer?

 

But I recollect

A kid,

Looking for a ramshackle van

Dirty, hand painted signs

With no flavours

Just Orange –

Pineapple if you were lucky

50 paise made you feel rich

One orange summer –

Even that was delicious

 

 

The parsimony of childhood days

Makes you feel

Like a poor man today;

I smile, thinking of that boy

Draining the last droplets

From a dirty smudged paper packet.

‘Sir, would you prefer the black currant –

The ice-cream seller asks

‘No,’ I smile, ‘Just the orange…’