LAMORNA COVE, DECEMBER 2005...

Lamorna, December 2005

Seeing past the weed

And scattered rocks,

The lack of a beach

And threatening stacks

Of grey boulders,

And Lamorna emanated

A coarse beauty,

Like the blade of an ancient axe.

Its harbour arm,

That protective wall,

Bore the brunt

Of the angry, buffeting tides

And once sheltered

The apologetic grouping

Of tiny cottages

From any sea-storm’s angry strides.

Yet the shock in store

As I approached,

Was potent and awesome,

For the defences had been breached;

Driftwood and general debris

Littered gardens and the banks

Of the fast-flowing stream

Which a violence had ingloriously reached.

The previously solid sea-wall

Had been damaged

And lumps of shaped stone

From familiar cement had been torn,

Left to random perching gulls

Abandoned on the pier,

Leaving the beauty of this Cove

Spoilt, soiled, scattered and forlorn…

Pete Ray