Atmospheric 3

3 of 3 in a Jemverse mini-series

Looking eastwards cross the raging sea
grey clouds above the green
The beach at Lancing here today
amongst the best I’ve seen
That is, I’d say, for quite a while
so fortunate am I
as I can come and witness when
wind blows and waves are high
This beach, this shore in Sussex
wonderful throughout the year
Its glory never lost on me
when I am standing here

©Jemverse

Photo – looking eastwards from Lancing Beach, Sussex, UK – Jempics

Southern England’s voice

At Sea Lane in Goring
breakwaters remain
reaching out to the sea
And this is the Sussex
that speaks loud its voice
and is Southern England to me

Wild with a welcome
the waves breaking there
sparkle and shine in the sun
as my camera it captures
to hold and enrapture
when my frequent visits are done

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Yorkshire

So I’m back up in West Yorkshire
God’s own country so they say
But my preference is for Sussex
which I prefer ‘most any day

Yes, here there are attractions
unique to Yorkshire and the north
But home’s still where the heart is
when one travels back and forth

So I’ll gladly come for business
or to visit for a while
But take me back to Sussex
as it always brings a smile

©Jemverse

Photo – Shipley, West Yorkshire, Jempics

Ditchling Beacon

Ditching Beacon in late summer
with views of Sussex Weald
walking slowly in the heat
cast by the sun’s strong yield

Wolfgang’s with us trotting slow
sniffing here and there
Inquisitive, excited
the moment here to share

By and by we’ll head on home
but an ice-cream first I think
Eating quickly, lest they melt
whilst Wolfgang has a drink

©Jemverse

Photo – from the the top of Ditchling Beacon, West Sussex – Jempics

[Wolfgang is our daughter’s 10-month old Patterdale Terrier]

From diamond seas

To the east the seven sisters
to the west the Isle of Wight
around this sweeping Sussex bay
I have within my sight
And in front of me out to the south
the diamond glinting sea
reflecting southern sunshine
is with me here and free

So no wonder that from time to time
I’ll come and sit and gaze
on Lancing beach for hours
at the ever moving waves
For this is as close to heaven
I can be I’d safely say
here in my perfect haven
on this Sussex coastal bay

©Jemverse

Photo – looking east to the Seven Sisters from Lancing beach, West Sussex – Jempics

Bignor

Two Roman villas
Two Mondays past
we’ve visited and found several ways
to lose ourselves here
with plenty of cheer
a cure for any malaise

Bignor this time
Mosaics again
under thatch to par excellence
Discovered when farming
at the time quite alarming
in the nineteenth century perchance

Had the place to ourselves
with no-one else here
so we took time to take it all in
Inspired here to capture
in awe and some rapture
this Bignor palace will bring

We took lots of pictures
with details to use
in things that we make when back home
Sculptures and drawings
of mosaic floorings
that antiquity to us has shown

©Jemverse

Photo – detail from a 2nd century mosaic floor, Bignor, Sussex, UK – Jempics

Fishbourne

And so it was with Romans
Fishbourne finally today
saw Sal and I this morning
venture out and come this way
England’s mosaic glory
tessellated on the ground
tells a tale of history
when in the sixties found
And now this treasure prospers
revealed for all to see
Especially today for
my soulmate Sal and me

©Jemverse

Laid in AD 160, this is the mosaic floor of one of the main dining rooms in the north wing of Fishbourne Roman palace, near Chichester in West Sussex. Discovered by accident in 1960 during the laying of a mains water pipe, excavations have since revealed it to be the largest Roman palace in the UK. [Photo – Jempics]