Rolling waves crash towards the shore
Lowering their heads like charging bulls
Losing momentum with the drag of the shingle,
They dissipate; falling back against the angle
Weakening their diminishing strength

On the pebbled shore, two siblings,
Test their wits at the waterline
1 – 2- 3 turn and run; laughing, screaming
With scrabbling feet gaining little purchase
Against the ever shifting instability

The boy is good; but the girl is caught
The seas tendrils whip round her ankles
Rising, lassoing her shins, like a magic rope
And she cries to her parents ‘I’m soaked’
Heading towards them, shaking her legs in turn

In gentle good humour, they laugh, and
With the recovery of youth she re-joins,
Her brother – to continue to test and tease
The hungry sea; like the Gingerbread Man
‘Catch me if you can – Catch me if you can’

The only other bystanders; husband and wife,
Stand close, sharing tranquillity of thought
Just taking in the power and overall beauty,
Of the scene – sweeping their eyes around,
The contour of the far reaching shoreline…

Normans Bay, Pevensey Bay, Eastbourne and
The vertical eastern edge of Beachy Head.
To their left, Bexhill is hidden, tucked back,
By the lay of the land curling in; Hastings afar

They smile at the antics of the children
Perhaps remembering a distant past
Their own silence broken by screeching gulls
And the ever repetitive sound of the swishing sea
Breaking in a low rumble against the shingle

Caught on the wind, voices and car doors filter,
From the hotel car park. The elderly couple turn
And retreat to the bar for morning coffee; with
The sea still visible via the large curved window
Its sound replaced by the general hub of conversation

It’s loss did not perturb the woman,
For she knew, whenever she needed to hear it,
In whatever mood they were both in
The ever rolling continuum
Would always be in her head