The sands move

brushed by moray tale

shivered in clouds

by a sole's shy shift

the currents stir

shaking silt

to mist the sea

to settle -

moving time

over an old log reel,

clearing the centuries  

discovering old timbers:

dead ribs

reaching up to past waves

offering their history

to the naked shipworms.

As the crabs scuttle to explore

as stars cree...

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There is a time

channel mists behind, we sit at anchor for the tide

then in the early hours the Thames pilots board

and - slowly for the mist still lingers close to land -

we move up river reaches, take tugs and find our lock

to gently nudge our way between the barges

until we are tied up again in Albert's dock,

derricks swung and hatches open -

and I am free

Again,...

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He watched the leaves float

in the pond

windmoving on the surface

drop-pitted by rain,

leaves, orange-brown against the black depths

He watched the leaves stick

to the patio

wetgluing to the slate

slickened by the storm,

leaves, orange-brown against the black stone

He watched the leaves move

on the trees

wildwaving off the branches

leafstripped by t...

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Once I plotted my course

on nautical charts -

I used the sun and stars

to fix

                my position in the world

Once my ship sailed the seas

by my compass course -

I drew lines on a map

to guide

                me through far off seas to port

Once I was the pilot

steering from the bridge -

But she altered my course

loving

                m...

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They see me

Without a word

Through the sea white mist

Slow silent slip away

They see me

An empty vessel

Adrift from my moorings

Fading to the horizon

To move, like night, from sea to sea

They see me

Haze distanced

Lost to all and love

Hull down, alone

Eternally to drift

To tide or current whim

Sometime becalmed

Drifting

Sometime storm blasted

D...

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Where sea and sky meet

                a green flash from the set sun

Lighting distant shores

In Spring my compass

                navigated the world round

Now Autumn tides ebb

In the Winter storms

                my old life invades the new

Waves crash past the strand

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