The shifting sea

At the ebb of a tide I'll slink to the shore
and though nought to hide I'll be back for more
for this is my movement and what I am for
as I am the shifting sea

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This magical place

I stood in the wind and bent to its force
and the seagulls gathered there of course
searching for food right here at the source
by this magical place here, the sea

Worthing Pier reached out through the waves
in this inclement weather the fool only braves
but this wonderful vista my soul always craves
by this magical place here, the sea

(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

Blue Brighton

Brighton pier was glowing blue
as the waves fell to the shore
as we all six up on the prom
watched it and asked for more
And that we got in spades
as we always do right here
in Brighton on the Sussex coast
beside its famous pier
Even precipitation didn't
much get in the way
as the beauty was so evident
at the evening of this day

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

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

In a Brighton sky

Reflections on the water
in a Brighton sky tonight
moonlight over flattened sea
the pier awash with light
Empty now the beach for chill
with precedence now rules
the water though inviting saved
for shivers and for fools

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

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

Seagulls, the sea and a song (reprise #2)

8 of 10 in the Jemverse series ‘Music II’

Alone on the shingle
Salt in my mouth
Braced against wind
Looking to South
Out there in the green
Waves rise and fall
As I listen again
To familiar call
A song just for me
The swoop and the cry
The sea and its music
As seagulls fly by

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

#130 POETRY =

By Charles Robert Lindholm

POETRY =

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

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 last West Pier II

Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse

I found it on the high tide line
after a night of fire
the Grand Old Lady of the sea
destroyed by spite and ire
Yet carried on an ebbing tide
along the coast to me
a memory of those boards I trod
now rescued from the sea
So though her grandeur is no more
complete her fall from grace
Brighton's West Pier always will
in history have her place

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

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