VAULT BEACH

A shingle, a shale,

A shell-strewn beach,

Waves unzipping white

Along the length of inlet,

Shadows merging, submerging,

At once mysterious, at once nebulous –

Only to snorkel into three-dimension:

Divers.

Now ocean liners balance

On earth’s rim,

Pitch their sirens

Towards an occidental fantasy:

Eldorado.

A dozen turnstones fly in,

Take over one corner

Of the beach.

Enthralled, I watch

The complex socialising,

But move too close.

A dozen turnstones take off,

Drawing the wildness and the magic

From the beach,

To leave only desolation. Mine.

(Michael Newman)

18 Courtiers Drive

Bishops Cleeve

Cheltenham

Glos GL52 4NU