Followers

Sunday 28 December 2014

A BEACH OUT OF SEASON

Fierce waves batter a deserted beach,
almost drowning out the mournful cries of gulls
lamenting the loss of summer.
Nothing is as it was then.
Two crows fight beak and claw
over the meagre contents of a litter bin,
their black eyes glittering
with murderous self-survival.

Clumps of seaweed lie strewn about an empty car park,
the spoils of recent storms. There is a stench of decaying vegetation.
Parking meters have been removed for the winter
and the funfair stands abandoned and partially dismantled
like the skeletal remains of some gigantic alien being.
A lone powerboat carves the misty seascape in two,
as the Isle of Wight slowly disappears
in the grey coupling of sea and sky.

Shivering, I turn my attention to the locked and barred beach huts.


Blue, and red candy stripes conjure up the spirit of summer:
crowds and excited voices of children;
ice cream kiosks and shellfish stalls;
sugar rock batons with "Hayling Island" through the middle;
and rainbow-coloured candy floss...
aah, the power of nostalgia: I can feel
the scorching July sun burning my fair skin!

The sharp pain of wind-burned ears
shocks me back to the present. Pulling hood up,
I gaze once more out to sea. Huge ocean liners
loom spectral on the horizon like barely discernible ghosts
of last summer now trapped in a shadowy region between realities.
Then a sudden shaft of sunlight pierces the gloom:
a tiny splinter of Heaven that fulfils my longing
for an omen of the spring to come.



30 comments:

  1. I can see those two crows fighting for its survival; I can feel the warm of spring approaching. That's the beauty in your poem to make me able to do so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad you enjoyed this, Dumcho...that we have a shared experience of summer memories...although you have perpetual summer there of course. Oh you are SO fortunate!!

      Happy New Year! :)

      Delete
  2. Beautifully written, adding so much meaning to the sad imagery of the season past, waiting for a future chance to take the stage again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was so desolate on the beach that day...seemed like a different place to the one I remember from last summer!
      Oh the wait is excruciating...;)
      Many thanks.

      Happy New Year! :)

      Delete
  3. so nice Ygraine I can see these in summer with people and I know how is in winter! and look beautiful!
    xoxox
    You know we are in summer here but can you believe I dont toast my skin sny, because really I dont had time!
    Only I swim some nights or afternoon! ha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh how I wish I were there with you...aah, the sheer bliss of going swimming in the sea! Now only a distant memory!!
      Many thanks:)

      Happy New Year xoxoxo

      Delete
  4. Your words always show me so much! I can see everything you write! Amazing my friend ;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh you are SO kind...thank you so much, Sweetie. I really appreciate that!

      Happy New Year!

      Love and Hugs xxx

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Linda!

      Happy New Year xxx

      Delete
  6. Ygraine, this is such a wonderful writing.
    I have so missed being here and it;s just so good to be here again.
    I love the beach and I sense you so want to be there again, soon my friend, you shall be ...
    Your fair shall soon feel that July sun :)

    Lots of hugs m'dear

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes...only a few short months to summer, but feels much longer as we are having the coldest day of the year here. It is that sort of cold that penetrates right through to your bones - however many sweaters you are wearing! Brrrr!!
      Thank you so much, my dear friend...:)

      Happy New year...and lots of hugs back xxx

      Delete
    2. Ygraine,
      It's freezing here today and I just cannot get warm.
      I just put the kettle on for tea ... wish you could join me ...
      Oh, I missed a word there in my comment ...should have been 'fair skin' but I guess you got what I meant ...LOL

      Are you partying tonight?
      Getting closer to midnight there!
      Have a joyous evening.

      Hugs xo xo

      Delete
    3. Really wish I could join you too, Margie...would be so nice:)
      Yes, got what you meant *smiles*...so glad it isn't only me...I often miss words out - or else miss-spell them! LOL

      We had a house full last night. It was such great fun, but by 1.30am I was absolutely shattered!!
      Hope you had a wonderful time too...:)

      Love and Hugs xxx

      Delete
  7. oh this is so beautiful Ygraine, so beautifully written i feel I'm right there with you we no snow, but we have sunshine, and as always your writing makes me wish I were there with you xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thank you, Sweetie!
      I so wish you were here too...for my New Year's Eve party tomorrow.
      It would be so nice...:)

      Happy New Year...and Lots of Hugs xxx

      Delete
  8. Excellent reflective and provocative post. Upon this dormant and stony beach, life will return this summer. The universe is THAT good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes...I guess we so often take the Universe for granted, don't we?
      Yet it is a true miracle, knowing for certain that good times will return...
      Many thanks, Geo.

      Happy New Year! :)

      Delete
    2. Hi once again Ygraine,
      Your ability to effortlessly capture the transient ambience of a place is poetic mastery in my eyes. Although the Summer you anticipate in that region of the world is I suspect a pale reflection of the everlasting summer heat I am now experiencing here in Thailand, nonetheless it is the beautiful bleakness of that deserted beach in a wintery setting that triggers my imagination to embrace the poetic vision of your detailed observations and experience the simple yet powerful atmosphere, " as the Isle of Wight slowly disappears................" in an image no other medium can capture with such panoramic emotional sway. Ofcourse for me the mystery behind the momentary timelessness of your last stanza is guided by the poetic vision " of the shadowy region between realities" which enables me to partake with contribution in the eternal renewal of nature and convince myself that my spirit also belongs in this shadowy region of transience and is also waiting for that tiny splinter of sunlight to spark in me the reality underpinning my transitory existence on this planet........I love your poetry.

      Delete
    3. Oh wow...I feel so honoured. Truly.
      You have found so much meaning in these words...everything I was trying to say - and much, much more.
      I am absolutely amazed at your final sentence...it precisely echoes my thoughts as I wrote the last stanza...that connection to everything in Creation, and the transitory nature of life on Earth. At that moment, I KNEW we never cease to exist - but simply change form when our time comes to move on.
      Isn't it amazing how we can learn so much about ourselves by simply observing the natural world?

      Thank you, William, for your most generous comments...so much.

      p.s. Please can you send some of that wonderful heat this way?
      It is absolutely perishing here! *smiles*

      Happy New Year :)

      Delete
  9. beaches are always great :)

    Happy New Year to you :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I find beaches fascinating...I only wish I had your talent for photographing them. My phone and I are mere novices! :)

      Happy New Year!

      Delete
  10. Wow. What a great perception of the beach during the cold winter months.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lady Lillith,
      Thank you so much for visiting, and I'm so happy you liked the post!

      Happy New Year :)

      Delete
  11. Your profile pic is beautiful; you look radiant. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thank you, Linda...you are so kind!
      Thought I needed a new picture for the New Year. It was taken on New Year's Eve.

      Have a wonderful 2015 :)

      Delete
  12. Ti Auguro un anno splendente che ti regali i suoi riflessi più belli e i suoi raggi più caldi ogni giorno, come se il sole splendesse sempre. Buon 2015, e che sia come lo vuoi tu. Auguri.!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Giancarlo...your words have truly touched my heart.
      I wish all the same for you in the year to come.

      Have a magical New Year! :)

      Delete
  13. Replies
    1. Thank you so much...and here's hoping 2015 is a fabulous year for you too! :)

      Delete

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment on my posts.
I really appreciate hearing your opinions...:)