Shadow

 
A boat abandoned on a pebbled shoal its bird-wing boards battered and broken a cold shadow drawn up on the blitzed beach winter storms separate rock from rock the coastline shrinks as sand banks grow this rock is now an island cut off from the coast joined to the land only when the tide like now is low like sewing machines they say their beaks moving up and down pricking picturesque patterns what do they mean these words these messages they leave behind them when they fly? why are we waiting and what are we waiting for: that short sharp gust of wind that will snatch our beauty from our lips and blows us into oblivion yet no man knoweth nor why nor where nor when ... Is that what we are then, clouds and rippled shadows of clouds shattering and shivering in life’s blue mirror is this a sky breath wafted with the colours of sunrise or is it the setting sun that flares so brightly here on the beach there are no answers only questions that echo round and round waves blooming on the beach sea bees booming over the sands we stare up at the sky with our carved wooden heads our stone-grey concrete faces our ship-wrecked eyes while over us all with wide-stretched wings the shadow hangs