'HOPE COVE INCENSED' (FROM JENNY AITKEN'S PAINTING...)

Hope Cove Incensed...

(from Jenny Aitken’s painting…)

A scurrying tide, heedless 

Of any menace hidden in the lee

Of black, shadowy outcrops of rock,

Plunders with white tipped rushes and drags

At sand and weed and driftwood, regardless.

And a dank shimmer upon a damp beach

Reflects the clouds of buff and cream which drift amok

Above the troubled, distressed cove and scree,

The olive grassed surfaces of myriad crags

And the tousled, distracted ocean’s reach…

And the scattered cottages offer respite

For the hunched traveller’s weathered trudge

And he fears the impending storm, contrite;

And the balm induced by a flaming log fire

Ebbs his tense mind, bearing no grudge

 And will reinvigorate his dampened desire…   

Pete Ray

December 2020  

I could imagine myself following a cliff path towards Hope Cove in damp, blustery, grim and cold winter conditions near Christmas. 

The gloomy outlook and the need for the warmth from a log fire and a large glass of seasonal mulled wine might be sated by a welcoming cottage or hostelry ahead…

My images of Hope Cove appear on this post too...