NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

Editor DJ Tyrer's drawing LAUGHING SAILOR appears almost invisible in what appears to be a fret, a dank sea fog, on the cover of this second collection inspired by the Londoner's much-loved seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea.

Poets BW Ballard, Jo Roach, Robert Hallmann, Steve Glason, DJ Weston, John Light, Dee Gordon and the editor contribute praise, sideswipe and whimsy in verse, ranging from the full page to a mere 3 lines in this slimline pamphlet.

Ballard provides the title poem recalling Great Britain's traditional seaside mode. In GOING BACK AGAIN and in AN IDYLLIC PLACE the poet stretches his memory and my gullibility to tell how it used to be in what he calls the halcyon days. I can almost see the signs on the B&Bs: No Irish or Blacks. This is from the first-mentioned, although it could equally be from the second:

	Glorious days, upon golden sands
	Tiny toes, dipped into the sea
	Plenty of ice creams, so many brands
	That's what Southend, brings back to me.

In ON THE PIER John Light recalls the Laughing Sailor:

	Please can I have another penny for the sailor, Dad?

	Oh, ho ho, ho ho, ho ho, ho ho, ho ho, ho ho, ho!

	When I was six
	I went with my Gran
	on a coach trip to see
	the Christmas lights
	along Southend seafront
	but from what I remember
	it wasn't terribly
	illuminating.

A handy collection for foggy days by the seaside. Every Southend-on-Sea B&B should have one.

Perhaps they already do.