Beach Huts

Stretching to infinity
Beach huts on Beach Green
Painted many colours
Brightest you’ll have seen

Here on the coast in Sussex
a haven on the beach
A little bit of paradise
there in easy reach

And don’t they just look gorgeous
Their colours bright on show
Quintessentially English
all there in a row

©Jemverse

Photo – beach huts, Lancing Beach Green, Sussex, UK – Jempics

A test of time

Against the blue the old Town Hall
with yellow ochre walls
Declares aloud his history
from ageing hallowed halls
In Brighton now amidst the new
it stands aloof to change
Whilst all around the architects
make plans to rearrange

And yet its walls have stood the test
that time has often posed
So here it is with confidence
and will stay put, I suppose
A pleasing thought to keep in mind
as history remains
With old and new together
and memories retained

©Jemverse

Photo – Brighton Town Hall, Bartholomew Square, West facia – Jempics

In Constable’s footsteps

Went to Brighton to see the original
on short loan from the Tate
It’s quite a lot bigger than the one on my wall
and to see it there was great

A Constable retrospective
representing four years’ toils
When he lived right here in Brighton
with some drawings and some oils

It was a special privilege
to see these works all here
and in particular for me
the original ‘Chain Pier’

©Jemverse

Photo – my print copy of John Constable’s ‘The Chain Pier, Brighton’ (1826-27) ; Tate Britain – Jempics

John Constable took lodgings in Brighton between 1824 and 1828 during which he drew and painted a lot of what he saw around him. ‘In Constable’s Footsteps’ at Brighton Museum brings all of that output together for the first time in an exhibition running until 8 October 2017.

The Chain Pier was Brighton’s first pier. Built in 1823 but destroyed by a storm in 1896, you can still see remains of its oak pilings at very low tides today.

The green and the grey

The prevailing Sou’Westerly’s blowing quite hard
with white horses out there today
Its cooler but the view from the beach
is great with the green and the grey

There’s an edge of a storm out there in the wild
that the sea will tickle and coax
And a fleck of moisture on the wind in my face
throws into the mix a few soaks

But I don’t mind a bit for there’s laughter right here
teased out by a very good friend
Who knows me much better than I can ever return
and who always wins in the end

©Jemverse

Photo – the sea from ‘The Perch’, Lancing Beach, Sussex, UK – Jempics

The Fly-past

Gulls above the Metropole
a fly-past just for me
Here in Brighton in the sun
next to the deep blue sea

Their cry is one of happiness
and the joy of being here
With the clarity of summer
at this lovely time of year

©Jemverse

Photo – gulls on the wing above the Metropole Hotel, Brighton, Sussex, UK – Jempics

Devotion

Up upon the Sussex hills
on Friday afternoon
I spied a sheep with new born lamb
the timing, opportune

As in my hand I happened
to have a camera with a zoom
allowing me to get in close
and for a moment be attune

It didn’t last for very long
as fleetingly and soon
the pair walked off together
devotion there bestrewn

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Sultry

Mid May and springtime evenings
with warmth still in the air
left over from the sunshine
that has been shining there

Walking through the city streets
A sultry feeling here
It is a pleasure knowing
that the summertime is near

And it has a certain nuance
you have to feel to know
when you simply have to wander
take your time and just be slow

©Jemverse

Photo – Brighton’s Royal Pavilion on a warm late Spring night – Jempics