THE THORNHAM BOARDWALK & BEACH EXPANSE...

 The Thornham Boardwalk & Beach Expanse…

Dull red damselflies,

Somehow attracted

To the rich amber path

Atop the raised bank, distracted

My gaze from the muddy, puddling creeks

And the long, stained beaks 

Of redshanks and curlews wading 

In the shallows of pervading 

Water channels, prodding and poking

Like potters, invoking

An end product from crude soft clay, crafted…

Pale wooden duckboards,

Somehow frantic,

Wound through dunes,

Topped by needles of sharp and eccentric

Clusters of marram grass,

Pricking the calves of those daring to pass,

But leading to a beach of immense proportions,

Its sand flat, or else ridged by tidal contortions.

Hectares of shoreline hid its lurking channels to ensnare

The thoughtless, the hapless and the oblivious, unaware

Of the dangers a creeping ocean affords… 

Pete Ray

22nd September 2021

Thornham Staithe and beach in North Norfolk’s early autumn sunshine.

Wading birds, damselflies, an enormous low-tide beach and channels which can trap the unsuspecting…

A fine walk…