Swimming off Towan Beach

I can still feel the water I swam in -

The memory of the waves on my skin -

The blueness of the sky above me -

The beauty of the clouds -

Towan Beach 

Cornwall

September 2026 

St Just in Roseland

As though I were remembering a dream -

The deep valley -

The gentle greenery over mossy beds -

The church with its ancient name -

Heaven reflected in the silent river -

St Just in Roseland

September 2026 

Portscatho twilight

Walking back up the hill -

Away from the small harbour -

The fishing boats resting on the sand -

Past curtains hiding gentle rooms -

Gardens facing the sea -

Lampposts glimmering in the salty twilight -

Followed by our earlier selves -

Anne, going to a dance -

There, in the Memorial Hall -

Myself, on the clifftop path -

Wearing a shirt as blue as the sea - 

Portscatho 

September 2026 

Another end of days

We walked past sun burnt dads -

Lean Amazons sculpting sand castles -

A prowling herring gull -

Beach huts with chirruping radios -

Salty grandchildren -

Having tea in the Cabin with Union Jacks snapping in the wind -

The blue zinging sea -

Thinking it was like walking with Roth or Zweig in Ostend -

Another nervy summer -

Another end of days -


Swanage 

September 2026

Watching House

House scowls, lurching on his cane -

His eyes burn -

He speaks in savage metaphors -


In his apartment, he plays icy jazz piano -

He talks with ghosts -

Remembers how he will be alone -


September 2026

We said goodbye

We said good bye to the kindly Baptist nanas -

To the sand tray, the play dough -

The singing in a circle -

The cup cakes -

The Welsh boyo of a minister with his parables -

The gentle grandad with his wispy beard -

The young mums fluttering round their buggies -

My heart was full -

One precious chapter ending -

Goodbye Jake they said -

Goodbye  -

Salisbury 

September 2026

After the A Train

I woke up thinking of you -

How you wore a long red dress -


How I kept looking at you -

Unable to look away -


Your arms were bare -

Your smile was my world -


When we hugged each other I said how lovely you were -

When you asked if I would still swim with you I said yes yes -

Swanage 

September 2026