RAINBOW CATCH... (My poem about Soar Mill Cove in Devon...)

 Rainbow Catch…

(Soar Mill Cove, Devon…)

The day broke with shards illuminating

Cliffs and the plunging rolls of contrasting land,

Powering beams between hurtling bags of cloud…

Then, drawn, driven and dragged like a 

tarpaulin

By an accompanying harlequin’s hand,

A dank squall dulled the sea to sullen grey,

As if hooked, heaved and hauled

By a rainbow’s accompanying band…

Sinister white waves chopped into a restless spray

And gradually, like the inevitable approach 

Of a predatory Legion of Rome,

Rain lashed at dullard shades, 

Darkening crags and the rolling plunges of disquieted land,

Rattling its wrath with howls aloud…

Pete Ray

I watched as a rainbow appeared to haul a low 

blanket of cloud into Soar Mill Cove in October 2012. 

Then rain was released to soak an early autumn morning…

PIRLO... (My poem about the legendary Italy and Juventus soccer player...)

 Pirlo…

The expression betrayed

Little but the bother of the lank hair,

Or maybe the irritation of an itch

In the depths of his swarthy, bearded face...

Sanguin.

The gait displayed

Little in the way of an imminent dash,

Or indeed an injection of urgency

From the sinews of his lean, embattled limbs...

Languid.

The distribution strayed

Little in the congestion of midfield hustle,

Or even from the intimidation of a tackle

By the spoil of a mean, destructive rival...

Adroit... 

Pete Ray

Andrea Pirlo, the Italy and Juventus midfielder. 

His calm demeanour haunted soccer. 

I have the biography…

He was a genuine talent…

RESCUED PUFFINS: THE DETERMINATION... (My new poem about rescued puffins at the Seal Sanctuary in Gweek, Cornwall...)

 Rescued Puffins: The Determination…

Ringed legs aided identification, a bit like wrist bands

At a theme park and the rescued puffins, a small circus,

Busied themselves determinedly as feeding time arrived.

Secured by the mesh of netting overhead they thrived,

Some of their cries engagingly raucous,

An improbability, a hotchpotch nurtured by human hands…

Industrial bills preened, expressions were engaging,

Short swims were frenzied, orange feet paddled frantically

And drying wings flapped torridly with torsos bolt upright.

The rescued puffins were flourishing, lost souls with fight,

Such individuals, great characters, bustling about curiously,

 Or resting and watchful, or mischievously rampaging…

Pete Ray

22nd June 2025…

An entertaining visit to watch rescued puffins at the Seal Sanctuary, Gweek, Cornwall on 19th June 2025…

Brilliant work being done by the staff there…

MOUSEHOLE, 20TH & 21ST JUNE 2025 + GUNWALLOE, CHURCH COVE & DOLLAR COVE, EN ROUTE HOME, 21ST JUNE 2025...

 MOUSEHOLE, 20TH & 21ST JUNE 2025...

GUNWALLOE, PLUS CHURCH & DOLLAR COVES, 21ST JUNE 2025...

ICE COLD POLDHU TIDE... (My new poem about dips in the sea at Poldhu Cove, Cornwall, 20th June 2025...)

 Ice Cold Poldhu Tide…

Damp, hard sand looked flat enough as it sloped gently

Downwards towards a feisty incoming tide,

Which rose with some bluster and one or two,

White-topped waves in each shifting surge…

Uneven shingly sand, hiding sudden dips, cynically,

Made stepping out into the surf rather undignified,

So that I stumbled, unbalanced, then took my cue

To turn as the next wave arched, my presence to purge…

I lunged, I threw myself into its venom, carelessly,

Its enveloping rush taking me for an ungainly ride,

Until I was deposited by a hissing, foaming spew

Where the broiling sea and gritty sand would merge…      

Pete Ray

20th June 2025…

The sea at Poldhu Cove, Cornwall was surprisingly cold at first but the experience was good.

After spying a reddish frying-pan sized jellyfish nearby, I decided it was time to dry off…