Secret II

Quietly the voice it whispered
barely audible it spoke
secrets only I could hear
way before the day awoke

Finger to my lips a promise
made and kept and honoured long
silence sang the words of knowledge
harboured by this ageless song

Many, many years I’ve kept it
never once the secret told
entrusted then until the moment
comes when I am very old

©Jemverse

Photo – double hagstone, Lancing beach, late summer 2020 – Jempics

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On the beach II

10 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

The sprawl of Brighton to the east
and Worthing to the west
is why this beach at Lancing
sparks such an interest
As lying equidistant
the eye is drawn to each
affording quite the best of views
when sitting on the beach

Just a short walk from Shoreham
(even quicker in the car)
it’s a perfect beach to come to
as it’s really not that far
Yet despite that clear attraction
‘tho folk this way still come
it’s never all that crowded
even in the summer sun

But here in late September
there is more here to condone
as I am here for hours
and quite often on my own
I might see a paddle board
or fishing boat out there
but it’s mostly me and seagulls
this beach to love and share

Sometimes a dog walker
will slowly amble by
mostly in the mornings
before the sun is high
And as they pass the beach hut
we’ll exchange a word or two
as the dogs around us frolic
like dogs on beaches do

And other times kite surfers
when the wind is blowing strong
will fill the sky with colour
as they skim and surf along
They are indeed a spectacle
and privilege to see
on this beach in Lancing
where we just love to be

This beach it is my haven
and this hut my special place
somewhere to escape to
when I need a saving grace
Epitomising everything
I love about the sea
and somewhere I’ll return to
on the beach where I am free

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Entirely mine

9 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

There isn’t much to beat this
even if I tried
the sound of surf, the rising sun
and no place here to hide
Not that you would want to
for here is everything
to bring you joy and reason
to raise your voice and sing

The golden of the morning
the warmth here of the sun
made for special moments
on the day when here you come
No, there isn’t much to beat this
exquisite and sublime
and with the beach all to myself
it is entirely mine

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Back for more

8 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

Not content with just a day
I’m back again for more
a repeat here of the yesterday
close to this fine sea shore
The sunshine just as warming
the sea just as sublime
on this beach at Lancing
which I regard as mine

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

I am not yet retired

7 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

I am not yet retired
but not that long maybe
as there is much attraction
for just sitting by the sea
Today just for example
three hours I have set here
doing nothing else but look
out to the sea so very near

I am not yet retired
but it probably won’t be long
as each day I find I’m singing
that no more working song
Today just for example
I spent the whole day by the sea
listening to its calming voice
just serenading me

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Little yellow seat

6 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

There’s a little yellow seat
on the shingle near the shore
just above the tideline
so I know just what it’s for

For its position faces eastward
so down there early morn
you’d see the sunrise glory
with the coming of the dawn

Yet even in the daytime
when the sun is at its peak
its vista is just lovely
if a view you’ve come to seek

So I really hope it stays there
on the shoreline on the rise
bringing pleasure to the viewer
of the sea before their eyes

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Rude not to

5 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

It’s still early but here
on the beach the warm sun
is rising and raring to go
So I’m here in my shorts
“Cos I felt that I ought
get in there and go with the flow

A wise choice I think
as the promise is good
that this day will be warmer than most
So it’s rude not to go
to the beach as you know
down here on the fine Sussex coast

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Summer’s sweet encore

4 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

Eight thirty in the morning
the sun warm on my brow
in September shorts with
the summer still somehow
The sunglare on the water
the millpond of the sea
and overhead the cloud free sky
means here’s the place to be
The beach down here at Lancing
on England’s southern shore
here for one more day at least
for summer’s sweet encore

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Twenty year view

3 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

For over twenty years
I have sat and watched this view
back since I was forty when
this vista was brand new
Hut one-o-one at Lancing
on the east side of the beach
about three miles from where we live
so still in easy reach

And even after twenty years
this view down to the sea
exudes its charm and here remains
quite unequivocally
A place where I am quite at ease
and in my element
for it is where for all these years
my summers I have spent

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

September Sunshine III

2 of 10 in the Jemverse ‘On the beach’ series

So I’ve not written ’bout the beach
for quite a while it seems
but today is quite appropriate
with all these new sunbeams
For it seemed the summer left us
when August’s evening came
yet now it’s back and shouting
lest we forget its name

Thirty plus they say today
good reason to return
in this September sunshine
and feel its warming burn
A good day for the beach hut
beside my lovely sea
with lapping waves and warming sun
to keep me company

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics