Climping Beach

Walked a five mile loop in a landscape
aliens seemed to have sculpted
strange tall structures there on the beach
descriptive words here prompted
The sun shone bright in April warmth
on slow receding tide
as we four wandered on the sand
and those tall structures spied

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(more) Music

7 of 12 in the ‘My very best’ series

Lurking fog and drizzle falling
the sea a greyish green
Waves like monstrous ogres rising 
tossed by winds unseen

Alone on dampened shingle
taste of salt upon my lips
Braced to ocean’s vigour
gazing out to windward ships

I am the only audience
for this winter serenade
A symphony composed for one
perfect and uniquely made

(a return to) Lancing Beach

6 of 12 in the ‘My very best’ series

Lightest of breeze, Sea in the air
Sounds of children playing down there
Green on the shingle, Cabbage White
Occasional bird in lazy flight
Blue of the sky, blue of the sea
White wispy clouds, soft buzzing bee
Shimmering distantly Worthing pier
Sometimes hazy, sometimes clear
Moored on horizon, fishing boats
Whilst nearer in shore swimmers float
Out to the east is Brighton’s sprawl
High in the air a seagull’s call
Perfect now the weather’s fine
Lancing Beach in summertime

Watching (revisited again)

3 of 12 in the ‘My very best’ series

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 Springtime day
On the shoreline with the crashing sounds
That filled the air and shook the ground
I shouted loud, could not be heard
Save by a high fly seagull bird
Green and blue the waters came
Crashed and turned and crashed again
Alone I stood and marvelled still
At those impressive seascape hills

Wellbeing wanders

Took myself for a walk
around and about
my gait having purpose
as it's nice to get out

Down to the beach 
the broad walk for me
breathing in deep
salt air from the sea

Clarity V

Cathartic this wide expanse of beach
tide low under deep blue sky
just the tonic that I needed
as I wandered slowly by

Splashed winter boots in cold water
found a bright red shell
dragged my toe through the wet sand
with words I'll never tell

Pinching Crabs

Joint Poetry by Venkataraman L.N. and Joseph Kurian

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Long mile return revisited

6 of 10 in the ‘Brittle 23’ series from Jemverse

Watching winter setting sun
on the beach from the long mile
A perfect ending to the day
I stayed there for quite a while
An ebbing tide, a lapping sea
with gold reflected there
On the long mile I breathed my thanks
for all this in a prayer

Of an evening (revisited)

8 of 12 in ‘The Of…’ series from Jemverse 2022

Of an evening spent down by the sea
with waves lapping there quietly
I’ll let the silence encapsulate me
At the end of a wonderful day

Of an evening with the sky painted pink
as my toes in the sand slowly sink
I have time to ponder and think
At the end of a wonderful day

Exuberance of cheer

Sunshine returned, it's cooler now
but the beach beckoned silent to me
and I heard its voice and quickened to that
with a wander down to the sea
Catching again the glimmer out there
as the sun on the water it shone
reminded me that these moments in time
need capturing lest they are gone

A bonus sunrise

Caught a bus into work
'cos the wind was quite high
and overnight it had blown
something onto the line
so the trains were all cancelled
but buses were still
accepting our tickets
for a walk with a will

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

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