WEARING AWAY... (A POEM ABOUT THE SEA AT MOUSEHOLE...)

 Wearing Away

Still warm. Late afternoon.

Sea-wall. Tide slowly creeps.

  It worries, sucks at and returns again and again

To untidy ageing boulders and rocks, limpet-strewn.

Weed, debris and human detritus cling

To the harassed shoreline, which takes the strain…

My life. Late afternoon.

Sea-wall. Tiredness slowly creeps.

It harries, bucks at and aches, time and again

Into worn, ageing joints and limbs, arthritis strewn.

Like driftwood, human detritus clings

And I am one with the shoreline, taking the strain…   

Pete Ray

22nd June 2022

Sitting on a sea-wall in late afternoon at Mousehole and seeing the shoreline being worn away by the sea, just as I felt I was being worn away by life’s ageing…