MOUSEHOLE, CORNWALL: a new poem...

To Please the Eye and Appease the Mind

The stark sea-wall is just that: 

Stark.

It aims not to please the eye

But to have a profound effect upon the lashing sea

Of winter’s grey-green whip.

The dark boulders are just that:

Dark.

They aim not to appease the mind

But to cause an effect upon the crashing sea

Of December’s lead-grey rip…

Yet still a Rock Pipit flits,

And a Wagtail performs an undulating flight

To please the eye

And to impress;

Still the Turnstone’s busy beak digs

And an Oystercatcher probes, almost out of sight

To appease the mind

And its distress…

Pete Ray

Along the walkway from Mousehole, towards the Penlee Lifeboat Station…