Reculver Beach
The rough leather of a
dog fish skin
Spiry and age-spotted
into dry seaweed
Scratching on the soles
of our shoes
And a perfect crab
shell, legs and all
Hollowed out by the
tide
Soft parts long since
departed
Now weeping scales of
salt onto our palms
Bleached shells and
smooth pebbles
Picked from a beach
pocked with horned poppy
As we walk beyond the
reach of the sea
And all along the
Viking Way they cycle
Flat out, fast and free
Billowing their hair
with a windy brine
From Wigmore and
wherever
In serious pursuit of
leisure
Here now, the old flint
walls
Flinching under a blue
sky
As starlings form a
chorus line
High up on the rafters
of the old towers
To entertain us with a
song and dance
From some bawdy, birdy
music hall
Reviewing the late
summer sky
This weather cannot
last
Rain tomorrow
And they will give one
last bow
Then exit left for
winter
And all along the
Viking Way we walk
Dawdling at the view
Of giant windmills out
to sea
And trains and tractors
Pulling the flat land
taught
Below a winnowed sky
We reach the car park
Just time for a drink
and a snack
This weather cannot
last
They say it'll rain
tomorrow
And we comment, again,
on the cormorants
Fishing from the posts
in pairs
And if they were young
egrets we saw in that tree
And we give one last
bow to the beach
While checking our
shoes
Then exit left for the motorway
Then exit left for the motorway
