ALSATIAN POEMS

WATERPROOF ALSATIAN – Poetry by Nick Armbrister

Alsatian dog lives under the sea, along with spoon billed turtle, and a dolphin who is normal. Follow concrete pier into the shallows, angling down into deeper water light fading shines no more. Here they play, special dog with oily coat swimming and turning eating fish. Surfaces to breathe, spoon billed turtle is his friend. Both nature’s odd balls, looking after each other, having fun with the lonely dolphin. His kind swam off leaving him alone. Then came the dog, waterproof alsatian, looks like a normal short hair brown and black, his coat has a thick layer of oil like a duck’s. He barks and plays but can see underwater and has a permanently wet nose. Fish food is his favourite and he sleeps on the current, floating legs down, tail swinging side to side, waterproof alsatian in the sea.

EVENING ON STRASBOURG PIERS – Poetry by Mark J. Halliday

Used to live in Strasbourg: 9, Quai de Paris. The piers in that city were on canals. Window flower boxes on Alsatian cafes, choucroute garnie entres, with onion tartes. Venders sell hot chestnuts, in Orangerie park. I’d sight-see after dark, la Petite France. Notes: Choucroute garnie is sauerkraut, slow cooked with Riesling white wine, potatoes, ham, sausages, and cloves. Tarte a l’oignon is also an Alsatian specialty. La Petite France is the canal district that had many tanneries which now are tourist shops, and high-end restaurants.

RED TOWER – Poetry by Ronald Zammit

Armoured jousting knights kissing damsels hands, envoy pigeons with secret messages, armada of ships invading the sands, shape a fascinated child’s images. Scanning the horizon for infidels, while semaphore signals warn the masses, who defend the walls of the Citadels. So students learn at history classes. The Alsatian sniffs around the bastion, a missing accountant, the objective. The putrefied body, the attraction, as examined by a young detective. The red tower watches over the bay, still pulling tourists, though now in decay.