Waves kick spray from bow,
rainbows sway salt mist
as sails salute the midday moon.
A porcelain sea hides mirrored halls,
shoals of silver beaded ghosts
whispering turmoil, sun-lapped waves
that spit and roil fading at beach break.
She beats groaning granite walls
wearing down grain by grain
in a tidal pleasure pain
caress of briny bliss
soft gentle dissolution.
The land sighs in current's caress,
seagulls rest on upwelling drafts
of wind tickling shivering grass.
Until... stillness, the bump and role
fades to a murmur of swell
beckoning slumber,
grass slows its shimmy
as cliffs breathe deep sleep.
I discovered the beginnings of this poem in a notebook from a long while ago, half written sitting sad and abandoned on the page. As I read over the lines I had jotted down over fifteen years ago, memories came flooding back of sitting on the bow of a boat on my way to Phi Phi island in Thailand.
It was early afternoon, and the moon was riding low in the sky, despite the sun still being up as gossamer clouds peppered the blue. I guess this peculiarity of the tropics hit me as I wrote about half of this poem on that boat, despite having suffered writer’s block for many years.
As I read the snippets of poetry back to myself, the memory was so strong that I completed a first draft in about 30 minutes. It’s a strange thing about poetry, and music lyrics as well, that I’ve found they can transport you back in memory with an intensity unmatched by prose.
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.”
Quote ~ William Wordsworth
This quote from Wordsworth encapsulates my feelings precisely.
For me, writing poetry at the moment of inspiration is that emotion recollected in tranquility to which Wordsworth alludes. The power of a poem written at a certain time to trigger a visual memory is a profound and beautiful thing.
It took me on visual flights of fancy this afternoon, and away from the grey rainy streets of the UK.
Thanks for reading.
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