To HEAL the HURT

An Etheree is a 10-line poem in which each line follows a syllable count that matches the line number. For example, the first line has one syllable, the second has two, etc. The poem is unrhymed but has rhythm, meaning, imagery, and sometimes an underlying second meaning.23 May 2017.’

The etheree can take a variety of different forms, but for this,  my first attempt,  I have kept things simple (if that is the correct word for a tricky exercise) and hopefully straightforward.

The photograph was taken by me earlier on the North Sea coast of Yorkshire.

She

Was late

After  nine

Walking slowly

Along the seashore

With only one purpose

Looking for his sand imprints

The staunch assurance in his stride

Resolution  taut as pre-stressed steel

Hoping against hope she’d find him weeping

The Sandman

THE  SANDMAN

The sandman looms

long and low in the westerly sun

on the evening shore

treading his beach

with dedicated feet

an image hunter

heir of Autolycus

searching

 for Nature’s hidden ornaments

probing with his stick

revealing the sand crabs

tempting the tide to turn

and wash away his presence

leaving no imprint

only a fleeting glance

a captured instant

of memory

of another world

arcane and mystical

beneath the sand

before the glimpse

releases him

and he moves on

into the dying day.

The Sandman was spotted on the beach beside Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland,UK, in 2003 …
Photo and sketch …  WHB

Life In A Refuse Bin

Photo: WHB

A refuse bin … A refuse bin
All life is in a refuse bin.

* * *

Amidst the rubbish and the tat
There lies a hat, a mat, a rat;
Daily Mail-wrapped fish and chips
Taco, shrimp and truffle dips;
Damaged shoes and flip-flops too;
Pair of pants that once were blue.

Ice cream cones and such detritus;
Discarded puffer for bronchitis.
Shells and seaweed in there, also
A print of ‘Blue Nude’ by Picasso.
Doll’s head, torso, and an arm;
No legs in sight – sound the alarm!
Apple peelings, apple cores,
Offcuts from old vinyl floors.
Broken pencil, bunch of keys,
Half a sandwich filled with cheese.
Old bus tickets, betting slips,
Laddered tights and broken zips.
Cigarette butts by the score.
Junk and scrap for ever more.
Empty tins that once held coke.
It really is beyond a joke.
Lubricant, petroleum jelly,
Whole salami from the deli.
Junkie’s needles, discarded syringe,
Vestige of an all-night binge.

These remnants of a night of sin
. . . All denizens of a refuse bin.

Clothes and food for any family
Enough to live on very happily.
Soon all of this will ‘go to waste’
Unfit for someone else’s taste.
And waste disposal at the beach
Really does cry out for bleach.

# # #

But wait a moment, I can see
A scene as if it’s on TV.
A family playing in the sand
Oblivious in their own dreamland.
Quite unaware that they’re within
And central to a refuse bin.

This ‘bit of fun’ with simple rhyming couplets, was prompted by my photograph (top), taken on the promenade at Sandsend, a small holiday resort, near Whitby, on the North Sea coast of Yorkshire.

A Yard Of Ale

A Yard Of Ale

A yard of ale, that old-time drink,
Keeps us a metre apart;
The distancing solution,
State of the safe-pub art.

And when I want to meet you over
Chips and battered cod,
Let’s use the café garden,
And a social-bubble pod.

We can gather on the beach
A metre-plus between us
A reasonable distance
To keep us heterogeneous.

When at last we can get closer,
Can shake hands and hug and kiss,
We will clutch our sides and laugh
Over these tortions and reminisce. 

A Walk Through The Woods To The Sea

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As I breathe in the wild garlic woods
I resurrect a memory.
In bursts of fiery vision
Both eyes and nostrils
Recall the path
Descending without haste
From cornfield to woodland dell
To fern and rill
Beneath the high arches
Of the viaduct
Soft tread over the bracken-strewn turf
Beside the bubbling beck
To meet the waiting waves
On that bleached beach
Promising not only present joy
But with purpose
Though without foreknowledge
Building a cornerstone 
Of my being
Nature’s Marble Halls
Erected to sustain life
To ensure that richness of experience
This continuity of pleasure
Which brings meaning now
When I had thought
Only the memory remained

 

Cadiz

 [ Photo Gallery # 93 ]

Cadiz – Spain

Cádiz is a city and port in south-western Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.  In my Photo Gallery today I include just a selection of the photographs which I took whilst wandering around the city on a visit there in 2006.

There are narrow streets, beautiful tree-lined plazas, a magnificent seafront promenade adorned with wonderful fountains, paved with colourful majolica tiles, and surrounded by a variety of trees and flowers.  Alameda Apodaca is a beautiful spot in the city of Cadiz, ideal for a stroll and to cool down on hot summer days.  It is a broad avenue with cobbled streets, and a variety of cobblestones and majolica tiles forming geometrical designs.

 

View of the city from the sea with Cadiz Cathedral dominating the skyline

Monument of the Spanish Constitution (approved in 1812)

Blossoming Jacaranda tree

Arbol del Mora, giant Moreton Bay Fig Trees (Ficus macrophylla) planted around 1900

Fountain and tiled majolica paving in the Alameda Apodaca

In Park Genoves

In the amazing Park Genoves, a botanical wonderland filled with over 100 species of trees and shrubs

 On one of Cadiz beaches, below the statue bust of Paco Alba, composer and creator of the  Carnival comparsa of Cádiz.

A Cadiz Roofscape

Cadiz street entertainment

The Coast of North West Cornwall

[ Photo Gallery # 87 }

To the east and the west of the Camel Estuary (see my blog of a week ago ) lie numerous inlets of the sea . Delightful coves and small villages  clinging to the Cornish cliffs.  Below is a gallery of my photographs of a number of these.

Rough sea on a misty morning at Polzeath

After the shower near Port Quin

Sign on entering the National Trust village of Port Quin

View of the inlet at Port Quin

The village of Port Isaac – used as the setting for the TV series ‘Doc Martin’.

Looking out to sea from the harbourside of Port Isaac

The beach at Trevone Bay near Padstow

The Lighthouse at Trevose Head, a headland on the Atlantic coast of north Cornwall

The Neal Rock with the Trevose Head lighthouse in the background

Close up view of The Neal Rock at Trevose Head

The cliffs and rocks at Bedruthan Steps

The granite rocks that are dotted across the beach are, according to legend, stepping stones for the Giant Bedruthan.

North Yorkshire Coast #2

[ Photo Gallery # 79 ]

Moving further along the North Sea coast of Yorkshire from the scenes of the villages north of Whitby in my previous Photo Gallery ( # 78), I post below just a selection of my photographs of two seaside towns, Saltburn and Redcar.

Both were and still are holiday resorts, once much more popular as such than they are today.   Both still maintain a small, if much diminished, fishing fleet and still do their utmost to attract visitors.  Their great glory is the beautiful 8 mile long beach, one of the longest unbroken stretches in the United Kingdom, running from South Gare, at the mouth of the River Tees, southwards, along the seafront of Redcar, past Marske-by-the-Sea, to Huntcliffe at Saltburn.

SALTBURN: Huntcliffe,Cat Nab & the Ship Inn.

SALTBURN: The view south from the entrance to the funicular cliff railway and Huntcliffe,

Saltburn is one of the original centres of the north-east surfing scene

The funicular railway at Saltburn began operating in 1884 and is the oldest operating water-balance cliff lift in the United Kingdom.

A misty view upwards showing the balanced ascending and descending carriages

Saltburn pier, first opened in 1869, is now the last pier remaining in Yorkshire.  It has itself been frequently damaged in the past by North Sea storms, but remains a popular attraction.

View from the pier southwards to Huntcliffe

Saltburn Pier – looking due East to the North Sea

The view to sea from REDCAR.  Not what I had expected to see, 10 years after my previous visit!

REDCAR: Wind Turbines – now detracting from the view of the North Sea

Even the re-designed and modern seafront promenade now has wind turbines as a backdrop

REDCAR  . . .  and the fishing boats now have these to contend with too!

REDCAR BEACON:  Now sporting  a seafront helter-skelter – Sorry, NO, it is apparently a Vertical Pier, with its own restaurant and giving beautiful views along the Yorkshire coastline. 

REDCAR:  . . . and sand sculptures to enhance the view!?

 

North Yorkshire Coast #1

[ Photo Gallery # 78 ]

After my three Photo Galleries displaying the delights of Whitby, my next two galleries will cover some of the delights of the Yorkshire coast further north, now named the ‘North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast’.

‘Heritage Coast’ sign at Sandsend

A sea mist masks the church and gravestones of the coastal village of Hawsker

Evening view to the north from the beach at Sandsend

Rough sea looking south towards Whitby from Sandsend.

Misty morning beside Westbek at Sandsend

The picturesque artists’ village of Runswick Bay

High tide in the bay at Runswick

Further view of Runswick Bay

The old mining village of Skinningrove where the Kilton Beck meets the North Sea and still runs red with the iron deposits carried down from the surrounding hills .  Known as ‘Britain’s Iron Valley’.

Kilton Culvert (N.B. not one of my own photographs)

Three views of the ‘Repus’ Cobble, an old Skinningrove fishing boat now positioned looking out to the North Sea from the beach at Skinningrove.

It is not clear why this cobble has been named ‘Repus’, but it has been pointed out that the name spells ‘Super’ backwords!

Manning the prow of the ‘Repus’ Cobble

Sea Light

 

 

As the swell of the sea reaches the shore
Waves wilfully break on the beckoning beach;
Light catches the colours riding the crests,
Blushing in red, in pink and in peach.

While above as we watch in reverence and awe,
The marmalade sky sugars the view,
Embracing the split twixt heaven and earth,
Splitting the vibrant view into two.

In such scenes as this all life gains a meaning,
For life and desire reside in the sea;
The beauty of nature is here embodied,
Bringing contentment and stillness to me.

 

My poem originates from a consideration of the oil paintings of Devon artist, Katie Sarra.  Many of Katie’s paintings present visions of the sea in its many different moods, still, turbulent, calm , moody.   Many of these seascapes are displayed in her gallery facing the River Daw as it runs through the Devonshire seaside town of Dawlish.  Her gallery is named ‘SEA LIGHT’.   It is a great joy to spend time in this beautiful gallery which doubles as a thriving cafe and tea rooms.  Two photographs of the gallery front below . . .