Standing At The Portal

Once hidden from view
The life of these dingy town pubs
Full of hard looking men
And raucous sounding women
Remained a secret world to me
A cast of exotic, almost alien creatures
Living for booze and fags
Trying to dull their senses
To iniquities I don't want to know

But a portal has opened
Inside forced outside
The smokers banished
To share their habit with passers-by
Presenting a glimpse
Of their theatre of the absurd
The pantomime taken to the street
Spilling out tears and laughter
And gossip they wouldn't want me to know

Women with masks of make-up
Men wearing a kind of armour
Skin pierced and printed with arcane tattoos
The personality worn inside-out
Confusing me as well as them
As to who is the person that lies within
And leaving me fascinated not repelled
Wanting to capture with a photograph
A world I can never truly know