Tag Archives: Sea

on time

eventually
I decided to return
where sea greets chalk downs

~

CLP 24/07/2022

skirting

the wave breaks
coughs up kelp
splashes shingle up the beach
rolls stones over
brushes out sand
catches air in pockets
marks the tideline in thick foamy spume
leaves with a hiss
of bursting bubbles
slips back into itself
gathers in its pleats
to unfurl them again
backfilling our footprints
proving nothing
waits for us

~

CLP 11/10/2021

on the beach

at first sight old
older than you and me
much older
Walking hand in hand
as we might from time to time
in moments unconnected by conversation
they stopped momentarily
so she could stoop to pick up a pebble
or a shell, or a flint, or to investigate
a wave-shined glint of something
that caught her imagination
as he waited to be shown her find
at first sight old
older than you and me
but now not at all
not as old as fossilised sea urchins
not as ancient as bellemnite-bored chalk
they were just like us
two more children 
playing by the sea

~

CLP 11/10/2021

on the sea

ocean green tides shift
stones, open cliffs, crack concrete
we'll return to it

~

CLP 05/10/2021

on autumn iii

it's been so still
humid air weighing on us all
weary from sleepless nights
from self-medicated sleep
from restless waking
from waking alone

and now the leaves move
trees sigh at their relief
the wind tunes up
wheezy gaps in windows and doors ajar
asthmatic whistling of telephone cables
clinking lines on masts
waves thick enough to roll the shingle
to slap the seawall
spit over its parapet
and bounce back to sea

this cool sou'westerly
freshens up the air
brings on the rain
brings me sleep
alone or not

~

CLP 04/10/2021

Ghost

Aegean blue
or is it green
clear to the seabed
shadow so sharp
it cut me out
cast me in stone
anchored me
and here I am still
waiting for you
to dive in too

~

CLP 29/08/2021

On the Beach

slipping on pebbles

this feels like treading water

yet gentle progress

~

CLP 18/08/2021

On the Beach

I’m never tired

of each tide’s unique beauty

waking next to you

~

CLP 03/08/2021

On Hope x

sand grain off balance

others out of kilter fall

wind and tide smoothed shore

~

CLP 25/07/2021

On the Edge

solid, liquid, gas

permanence ethereal

shifting between states

~

CLP 01/07/2021