A Hopeman Song

 

 

     Such a day as today – I could live every day

  as I gather speed on the hill,-

    my sweat making towels of clothes -

       I conjure a ramp at the bottom to leap

         into the cool waters,

 

     but then,

I am getting old and so,

   I brake and take a wall to sit.

 

     There as the Sun casts a shimmering mirror;

the breeze cools my body as relaxation calms my

   thoughts.

 

     A whirring engine turns my head to

see an old man upon a mobility scooter,

  he returns my greeting through a voice-box

     croaked and well worn,

 

     I watch and think of my years and pain

as he mounts the grass and wobbles his scooter

towards the harbour wall,

   he stops.

 

     I look upon the worn grass,

realizing his daily take,

         he stops and there upon the grass

            there may well have been a sign – ‘reserved’

     for the lack of green and only soil.

 

                    ‘I follow his gaze.’

 

A minute later, he was gone!

 

          He only wanted to see the sea,

              to ‘know’ it was still there,

                   he only wanted to hear her song!

 

 

 

Michael J Waite 19th June 2024 (Hopeman Harbour – Scotland).