A beach, calm seas, blue sky

Seagulls gliding in the morning mist

Migrant starlings circle overhead in groups

As fish swim naively in the shallow waters

 

Early morning walkers tread the sand dunes

A circuit they’ve walked many times before

Health and fitness being top of their agenda’s 

No stiff sea breeze to deal with this new day

 

Volunteer litter pickers share from flasks

as cleanliness matters in this small town

It’s mainly tourists who leave calling cards

But flotsam and jetsam also needs removing

 

A main road, busy traffic, grey skies

Pigeons scavenging the yards and alleyways

Loose dogs roam in packs, hungry, angry

The few who work, scamper through the streets,

anxiously looking over shoulders

 

Hooded men, stand sentry over their pitches

waiting patiently for their clients to surface

Smells of cigarette smoke and urine dominate

Smiles on faces are at an absolute premium

 

Contrasting scenes, times and places

As if two worlds collided in space, revealing each

of their truths.  Lives and culture poles apart

but similar, in that each landscape screams

out in its own unique silence.