Helsinki

The Hall of the Mermaids, once
the Linnanmakei amusement park’s
most popular sideshow. Bikini-clad
women sent plunging into water
when you hit a target with a ball. 
Some evenings some mermaids were topless.
By the 70s men became targets as well.
Finally the mermaids were banished altogether.

Senate Square and the Lutheran cathedral.
General strikes, Vietnam demos,
unveiling of the statue of Russia’s
Emperor Alexander II. Some say
it was never more packed
than on the night of the concert
by the Leningrad Cowboys,
supported by the Red Army Choir.

Irascible tourists with mobility scooters
peer at art nouveau buildings
from the hop-on, hop-off bus.
Keeping up spirits in winter:
ice-swimming at Harakka island,
clearing snow from the tracks.
A confluence of trams: rumbling
and pulsating along the city’s veins.