10th September from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
For the first time there is the slight odour of Autumn in the air. The thick mat of pine needles are damp and exude that sort of sharp, warm smell. Green cones have fallen from the high branches.
Some have been nibbled bare by the squirrels. Voices float down on the still, afternoon air from the balconies of nearby flats. The rippled silver sea is on its long journey out for the Spring tide. Our plastic lavatories have some context now as the wire pens for some sporting event is erected at one end of the Green.
Banners are draped and objects are inflated. It is unclear as to whether the high fencing is to prevent competitors from escaping or random passers-by from joining in the fun. Beneath the silent pines a solitary reader takes part in an altogether more cerebral happening.
From 10th September 2021
There's something strangely melancholy about a road or footpath at night brightly illuminated by street lamps but entirely empty of traffic of any sort. Tonight, with a covering of thick cloud and a speckle of rain, my way home seemed odly desolate as I passed from one honey coloured pool of light to another, the only person on the West Cliff.
From 10th September 2016
Between the grey banded sky And the grey lined sea The sun suddenly catches The General Cargo Carrier, Simone. Hard work and age have done her no favours But, for this moment, Simone is beautiful. As we all are given the right lighting conditions. There are two worlds that run alongside our own. One is where everything goes right and the other is where everything goes wrong. These two worlds are called "what would have happened if" and are entirely inhabited by bookies and hedge fund managers and writers. The rest of us live in the fuzzy liminal space in between. And because both of the "what would have happened if " would soon become hopelessly out of sync in a few minutes and would veer off out of sight till they crashed and burnt. As it is, nature resets our little space every so often and we can all start again doing things right and doing them wrong. And again. And again.
