…as I know it. It’s three minutes of footsteps laid on wood. It’s metal suspended and sending me out over the sand, over the water, away from the land.
A place where old women slump, deckchairs moulding their spines into perfect curves. Heads eaten by floppy cloth sunhats. Arms at rest on polyester laps. Each a mess of veins, a blue knotted net thrown over their bones to stop them from blowing away.
A place where men line the pier sides. Arms crossed on the top bar of the railings. Never content to sit, they always pace or stand or lean. Silent and staring down to the water below. So blue today. Parallel bars of colour that deepen as they leave the sand behind.
And down below gulls dot the border water. Walking in and out of the fluffy ripples. Pecking and poking. And almost looking like they might grab the edge with their beaks and with a little teamwork fight the tide and drag the blue back up the beach.
5 comments:
this is excellent, full of very arresting images, specially the veins holding the women together and the gulls dragging the sea.
I liked the veins, too.
Your words have a lovely, tactile quality.
It might be the end of the world, as we know it, yes on other hand it's really kick start the adventure from this point on, you are on your own - with myraid of worlds end to discover, but I can seee your picture of people who thinks this is good enough here we draw the line and is content with that.
Lovely words Jem.
"Heads eaten by floppy cloth sunhat" what an amazing thought! and yes, the gulls dragging the sea - how fantastic! ...x
Gorgeous stuff, again, Jem. That idea of the birds pecking at the sea and dragging it back ...so 'right' and so evocative.
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