Sea Watch (reprise)

4 of 12 in ‘The Fading Days’ series from Jemverse

I watched the sea, it did me proud
I smiled at it and laughed out loud
The waves they roared, I roared right back
As I wasn’t having any of that

Alone on the stone with sun and spray
On a fine and perfect Autumn day
On the shoreline with the crashing sounds
That filled the air and shook the ground

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Something about

Something about the hand of the sea
and the tactile nature of things
it leaves in its wake for people to find
to pull at many heart strings

Something about the smooth of the feel
and the salt blended into the grain
that brings inspiration to a poet's mind
for words that will always remain

Wavefall

Went for a walk on the beach
in the morning
at first light of day when
most still were snoring
It was quiet and peaceful
just the sound of the sea
and the crunch of the shingle
the wave fall and me

Two Dodoitsus (II – Sunday)

And so to the beach again
for ocean's cooling water
Sunday blisters relentless
yet this gift is here

Seagulls on the wing

Seagulls flying on the wing
on the beach as I
sit outside my beach hut
and watch them hover by
Indicative of all that is
a life beside the sea
this vista with the seagulls
is here a part of me

Encore

The waves are thundering on the shore
as the sunshine makes a show
and whooping we cry out for more
of that music down below

Stiff upper lips

Sitting on a windy beach, the sky's a leaden grey
down here at the beach hut for a family day today
It's a pity that the sunshine didn't wear its hat again
But then this windy weather suggests coming of some rain
And that won't dampen spirits, we'll still have a lovely time
Cos it's all about the company in wind or rain or shine

At the eve III (part 3)

3 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

At the eve of this day
I will dip my toes in cooling waters
and there will be the lap of an ebbing tide
and the taste of salt on my lips
and there I will find peace

One XI

11 of 12 in the ’12 months V’ series from Jemverse

With 'Dog Days' just beginning
July the first is here
for long hot days of summer
the ones I most revere
A child of summer born and bred
these are the days for me
getting browner in the sunshine
on the beach beside the sea

The Gut

Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse

The beach Ted Bunker launched his
boat from sadly is no more
once called 'The Gut' its gutted now
no more a shingle shore
Filled in to make a car park
the beach where once we played
is another loss to history
and to the fishing trade

Born to the sun VI

Born to the sun and born to a beach
which I'm going to now 'cos it's in easy reach
and today is my birthday and I'm sixty-three
so a day in the sun makes good sense to me
I'll be there with the Beans so it will be the best
for good conversation, some laughs and the rest
and this evening much later to Brighton we'll go
for a meal and some beers to conclude the show

Beaches

Looking out 'cross windswept beaches
though this one's far from home
a familiar feeling warms me
from all the views I've known
For here I'm in my element
close to the sea, my heart
a synergy that's part of me
and has been from the start

Sandcastle

We made the best sandcastle
that a beach has ever seen
it took us several hours to make
a mark where we had been
Little children paused to stare
and admire it with a smile
for it was truly massive
and took all of us a while

Camber Sands

For a birthday treat our children
took us to Camber Sands
a weekend at Badger Cottage
neath the sand dunes tall and grand
They'd all kept it a secret
but it's known and open now
as the six of us are here
with our dog cos he's allowed

Back again

I'm down at the beach hut
it needs no explaining
making the most of
the sun still remaining
the locks were quite stiff
from the salt and the rain
but they loosened at last
so it's open again

When it’s found

For me it's usually in the sun
when summer's kissed the sky
and I'm down upon the beach
where slow seas quietly lie
But it can be most anywhere
just need wide open eyes
so you will spot it when it's found
and not be that surprised

Of fortune and privilege

A horse wandered slow on the golden foreshore
as the sun diamonds shone on the sea
and high on the shingle the wolf wagged his tail
with my two daughters and me
Eastward we wandered this vista beside
our fortune and privilege known
a walk on the beach in winter sunshine
here in Sussex this place that is home

Morning Dawning

Another early morning
and the beach is quiet and still
the sea a mirror calm
barely moving there until
the world around in slumber
slowly wakes up with the dawn
and I again am thankful
that another day is born

Me by the sea

Gold on water evening time
on the beach into sublime
Westward walking all this mine
In Sussex by the sea

Sea air salty winter clime
far out there horizon line
evening shadows intertwine
In Sussex by the sea

All these wonders help define
the sea in me this storyline
of beaches with the weather fine
In Sussex by the sea

Contentment II

Caught a sunset to die for on the beach in the gold
just there in time in the afternoon cold
and down on the shoreline where the waves meet the sand
just down from the shingle took in this view grand
And breathing in deep the fresh salty air
I knew perfect the privilege I had to be there
For this was a moment to seize for the day
and know a contentment in every way

Mist walking

Found myself walking along the Broadwalk
heading into the mist
the sunshine was there above me somewhere
as the sky and the shingle there kissed
Ethereal silence descended as I
strode eastward along on my walk
giving passers by room as they grew from the gloom
with whispers there as they talked
and it was cathartic and pleasant for me
with barely a ripple of breeze
winter cold still but healing the ill
as I wandered close there to the sea

Delight

Bleak this green into the grey
a salt-laced winter wind
from a prevailing westerly
full in the face that grinned
and shivering at the whitened shore
to far horizon seen
the figure hunched to winter cold
knows full where he has been

If you could

Went for a walk
on the beach by the sea
December winds blowing
but lovely to be
in this place that we love
close by where we live
which pleasure on pleasure
it will always give

For no matter the season
or time of year
we visit these shores
we always find cheer

Splendid

The beach was quite splendid but isn't it always
when with Wolfgang or there on our own
with the blue of the sky
and the huts by the by
it's a joy to have this close to home

It's great in the Summer and on bright days in Spring
and in Autumn with waves whipped by storm
with the pebbles and sand
the sea of course and
here on Winter days all dressed up warm

Our beach hut

And the view from the beach hut
to the shine of the sea
on this day in December
was fantastic for me

So pleased I can come
at all times of year
as this place is my haven
and always brings cheer

On the beach III

Went for a walk on the beach in the sun
the sea was shiny and green
On the shingle the crunch
for an hour before lunch
the view was the best we had seen

From the West a stiff breeze, refreshing, not chill
whipped the waves as they crashed on the shore
and with the tide on the turn
appetite did we earn
as we walked on the beach here once more

Sometimes the words

Still and November and grey yet quite warm
to the beach I ventured today
and alone on the shingle with my good friend the sea
stood there with something to say

But the words being stubborn just wouldn't come
so I stood and looked out to the grey
and as high tide turned tail and never looked back
still silent I went back to my day

Sometimes the moments they come and they go
some seized for the moment, some not
and though a beach is a good place to be with no words
it's enough to be calm with one's lot

Last day in Lyme

No.11 in the Jemverse series ‘Down in Dorset’

On our last day we went back to Lyme
to look for fossils on the beach
heading westward from the town
to one in easy reach
And found them, oh I think we did
some massive ones at that
in boulders far too heavy
to take home and that's a fact

So I built a sculpture with flat stones
I found and balanced there
quite pleased with my achievement
took photographs to share
And the sun as it had been all week
shone down and warmed and beamed
as we sat down and rested
on the sand and looked and dreamed