HIGHCLIFFE GLOOM... (My new poem about a rainy morning in Highcliffe, Dorset...)

 Highcliffe Gloom…

Footpaths past parkland and dead end streets,

Then between groups of smart residences, led through

Drizzly weather to the cliff top and a sudden view

Of a grey, sullen and testy ocean, its autumnal murk

Fading nearby headlands into insignificance…

A down-path between grim hedges and damp bench seats

Led to soft, dune-like sand, as the persistent rain grew

In intensity, glistening upon a ridge of stones, askew

In sections, like an ancient army’s defensive groundwork.

And drenched, I trudged seaward to acknowledge Poseidon’s feisty presence… 

Pete Ray

19th October 2025…

After watching Mousehole AFC draw 1-1 at Bashley on the previous afternoon, I ventured out from the Premier Inn, Highcliffe-on-Sea, near Christchurch, early in the morning.

Drizzle turned to persistent soaking rain but I needed to get down the steep cliffs to the sea’s shallows.

The gloom and sea fog were grim but somehow made the scene even more attractive to me…

Poseidon was the ancient Greek god of the sea…