Breakwaters & Breaking Lines…
(Inspired by Sue Nichol’s painting of Staithes, North Yorkshire…)
It is the rising of a sun, harassed by the swirling
And careering North Sea storm clouds, twirling
About the Staithes sea-walls in a high tide deluge
Of grey, corrupt seawater, corralled, roaring and huge,
As a wicked gale whips up brine with colours to match
The carousing menace in which the sky revels and the breakwaters watch,
Merely black silhouettes pounded, hapless and helpless,
As the new day’s light fights for survival, its hope and patience endless…
It was the turmoil of a battlefield, caused by the swirling
And careering of enemy artillery fire, hurling
Death and destruction into a ground-gouging deluge
Of contaminated, shell-holed filth, so that huge
Apocalyptic clouds of smoke, with poison gas to match
Billowed into no man’s land, as shivering sentries stood on watch.
A verey light rose from a pistol shot, its illumination feckless,
As a grim day’s fight for trench survival continued, its horrors pointless…
Pete Ray…
7th December 2025…
Sue Nichol’s exciting painting not only made me think of the wild seas around North Yorkshire but then, also of World War I trench warfare.
I couldn’t help it…
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