Beach Mirror

Dear Reader

It seems to be a truism that everybody loves being on a beach. Something about the sea speaks to us and we are drawn to it. I used to spend the summer holidays on the beaches of North Norfolk and fell in love with that beautiful and special part of the world. To get to the beach I particularly liked there was a fairly long walk over the dykes to get there. So of course there were very few people about and I could enjoy a large sandy beach having climbed over the dunes which were in abundance. The poem I have put on the blog this week is very much something that happens to me, even today, when a young mother walks by me on a beach with her three children, reminding me of myself a long time ago. We were due to go to Lyme Regis in May but of course the holiday had to be cancelled due to you know what. Still we have booked again in September so with luck we will be able to go there and enjoy the lovely town and seaside.

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From Dorothy Wordsworth, 1800 in Westmorland

'Rain in the night. I tied up scarlet beans, nailed the honeysuckles, etc etc.....I pulled a large basket of peas...
A very cold evening."

From Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1877 in Devon

'Pretty farmyard - thatch casting sharp shadow on White-wash in the sun, and a village rising beyond, all in a comb; sharp shadows, bright clouds; sea striped with purple.

Beach Mirror

I see myself, a young woman,
recognize the long skirt,
the three blonde children,
one on her hip,
two holding her hands,
all laughing, hugging, arguing,
her hair dancing in the wind.

Swirling thoughts about time past
consume me.
I kick at pebbles,
pick up oyster shells,
gaze at the everlasting point between sea and sky.

I have aged, certainly,
but, feeling the warmth of the sun,
watching the sea and the tides,
it seems these things,
are ever the same as they were,
all those years ago.

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Very best wishes, Patricia