Triassic Red Rock at Exmouth, Devon … Photograph WHB – 2010
Offcut of the Jurassic coast
Orphan of the distant cliffs
Detached from its mother lode
Now an imposing sentinel
A majestic rock
A Triassic red rock.
Descendant of the Devon Cliffs
Ancestor of a million pebbles
Reliving its life in isolation
Facing the diurnal tides
Confronting Poseidon’s rage
Andromeda’s chains now long cast off
This pedestal of the shoreline
Now serving a valued purpose.
Harbouring shore life
A haven for gulls
Cosseting kelp
Succouring seabirds
Sheltering shellfish
Anchoring limpets
Its periwinkles
Feeding on its algae
Minimally diminishing with every tide
Yet serving its constituency
With resolution.
And promising
Its adherents
A fitting future.
Roland's Ragbag 
There is something mystical about rocks that are situated in the sea and you have captured the feeling in this excellent poem Roland.
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Yes Davy, I do agree. ‘Mystical’ does describe the sensation when coming across any isolated rock and wondering how it could have got there.
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My inner Geologist really loved this!
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I was just doing some reading on the Reverend William Buckland, who collected fossils on England’s Jurassic coast in the early to mid 1800s. He would have appreciated the mystery in this rock, also, and perhaps he was familiar it. I used to live on the Mendocino Coast in California, where numerous boulders stood out at sea. They definitely exude powerful emotion. And I love how you describe the sea life that the rock supports. Wonderful poem and photograph, Roland.
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Thank you, Laura, for your comments. Much appreciated.
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