South Shields

1.

Pale blue sky, egg-speckled with clouds that wind and twist their entrails round the

new-born day;

A day sun-washed in its infancy, circled, woven into fabric by the wind-kissed loom

of the morning;

The footfall of the waves beating a syncopated rhythm:

Dog-walkers walk their dogs on the later forbidden foreshore:

Joggers jog, and cyclists ride their soft-shod wheels at speed:

The walker walks alone, takes time to breathe and understand.

The gull that circles, vulture like, overhead lets loose a mournful cry.

2.

The deep, dark abyss lies across the rutted road,

And beckons, calls, pulls, pleads, its very blackness

Offering velvet oblivion.

The hand held out in supplication touches fingers

And slips away, forlorn, one more hope dashed.

The laughter, then so gay, now hollow and insincere;

The hope, the joy, the anticipation, all crushed.

And so to sleep, sleep the balm that heals even the deepest wounds,

Cannot come, if it comes, too soon.

3.

The sand shifts and drifts, a million million sparkles of light

To explode and caress the souls of your feet.

The sand falls into ridges and fights the sea,

Once moved and formed, next trapping the ocean

Within its relentless embrace.

A battle fought, won and lost, each day,

Again and again and again.

4.

I walk again where I walked before

And see you there, beside me,

Remote, secure,

And however hard I stretch out,

Out of my reach.

You have become a part of the pier,

Of the sea, the rocks, the sand,

You are in the shore, and dancing upon the waves

Forever.

(c) 2ndwitch 16/07/12