Sea, Sky and Shingle

At the edge of the town
Past cloud-feathery tamarisks
Winter meadows flood,
Oases for wigeon and teal.
We gaze at road and sky,
Reluctant to fly this
North Sea coastal place,
Where wind bells peal
For Britten and Grimes –
For lovers of music and poetry
An enigma of grace.

Sea, sky and shingle
Meet at water’s edge
In a gentle caress,
Ordinariness
Or wild distress.
From pretty, cosy, rambling roses
To salt-resistant leathery leaves;
From ice creams and holiday fun
To raging spring tides
Bringing danger and death;
From four sea interludes
For all kinds of mood,
To piped repetitive sound
Distracting the mind –

Man’s changing life is
Reflected in coastal tides and lives,
Ebb and flow, love and strife,
Long days fishing, mending the nets –
Finding perhaps a scallop shell,
Wave-ground, stone-ground,
Cracked, yet whole,
Caught in life’s tangled mesh,
Unexpected gift from the sea.