An early morning drive in an unfamiliar direction.
Two bodies craving rest.
Suitcase wheels click-clack along damp pavements.
Look! Through a round portal. The turquoise sea. A bobbing island awaiting feet.
A stretch of sand.
Warm sun caressing face.
A winding coastal path.
A shifting glimpse of the sea.
Birds soar
and call
and float
and sing
Hands soothe the skin of a tree.
Sitting on a bench. A pocket pair of lenses shared. Look! There. On the rocks at the edge of the bay. An oystercatcher dabbling. A not so little egret wading.
A bus trundles through the dark.
A walk. A walk. A walk.
Upwards. Fading sea. Fields. Hedgerows.
Look! A wingspan lands in a tree. Scramble for lenses.
A walk. A walk. A walk.
Branches. Fields. Surfacing sea. Cliffs.
Birds soar
and call
and float
and sing
A lighthouse awaits along a path through the sea.
Waves approach and the alarm signals time to flee.
A walk. A walk. A walk.
A cormorant with wings spread out to dry.
Two shags converse.
Indeterminate gulls scatter rocks.
Blobs of colour. Small and tall.
Unable to tell if guillemot, razorbill, shearwater or petrel.
Cliffs. Fading sea. Fields. Branches. Hedgerows. Fields. Emerging sea. Downwards.
Sunlight glints through billowing fabric. Tightened cords. Cast overhead.
Bodies wrapped in warm towels. Hands ease limbs. Water eases soul. Rest eases heart. Pages turning.
Jersey, the Channel Islands, March 2023
