Journey of Words

The train passes the airport
For a second or two you can see
The full length of runway
Before the carriages rush on
Through Three Bridges
Rattle across the Balcombe Viaduct
And head south of Hassocks
Where a wall of green looms into view

The South Downs
A great grass clad drape
Separating England's drab everyday
From the concrete and brick coastal strip
A fire curtain for the theatre of Brighton

The pavilioned
Proud
Weather-lashed
Original rail-linked
London-on-Sea
The original
Oh I do like to be beside the seaside city
With its rusting remains of the once luminous West Pier
And the Palace Pier replete with fairground rides
Even a helter-skelter
Klaxons and bells and penny arcade cacophony
Sat on iron piles above the steep deep-green troughs and rollers
Breaking on the humpback of the shingle shore

Premium-priced sea view windows
Can't afford to judge all they see
Within
Dirty weekenders, honeymooners, runaways, strays

Without
Street homeless men and women
Line the leeward side of the sun shelters

On the promenade
Day-trippers, teenagers, couples, loners
Amble, stumble, stroll
Checking out what's on show
What's available
What's for sale

Is this where we lived all those years ago?
It seemed to rain more then
Gales dragging litter through The Lanes
Junk shops charging antiques' prices
We often passed young single men fresh from the station
Hoping to find their feet
In the coded language of Kemp Town streets

On some summer evenings I'd park up on the front
Get down to the water
And dive in
Swim between the piers
Where mackerel shimmered
Where the scratchy cry of terns
Pierced the air

I loved seeing those finely tuned birds
Fluttering, hanging, watching, arrowing into the briny
Skewering small fry near the surface
Before frantically beating a retreat
To safety in the sky

When the Spring tide ebbed
I discovered sand beyond the pebbles

I could walk out
Waist deep
Chest deep
Neck deep
As far out as the end of the pier

I'd turn and look back at it all staring blankly out to sea
And wonder
Was this the place to be?
Was this all here for me?

~

n.b. NaPoWriMo 2026 Day 13 prompt: Landscape/ place.

CLP 13/04/2026