Let’s go down to the sea, like you used to, with Grandpa

We stretch for blackberries
In the sun, walking slowly
Along the bay, here to commemorate
But bereft of memory
The chilhood talks, the driftwood fire,
The sausages and sticks
Were too light to sink and
Be saved for deep sea divers
To find.

One lone tanker
Heaves past as we
Leave. Do its crew
Marvel at the sunset?
Probably not. Do we?
Yes, in our minds eye,
But our hearts are
Elsewhere, trawling,
Water and memories
But the catch
Is empty, the
Hoped-for treasure,
Through it slipped,
If it was ever there.

Day by day, getting here

I have been ill

I have been fat

I have been thin

I have been blind

I have been unhappy

I have been ugly

I have been beautiful

I have been clever

I have been slow

I have been switched off

I have been switched on

I have sufffered

I have enjoyed suffering

I have gloried in my struggle.

I have benighted my pain

Have I  triumphed through adversity?

No, I have been Adversity itself.

There is no triumph through it,

Only change in direction.

I have seen my

path,been

my path, travelled

along it some then

made a new one,

In search of better scenery.

Have I found it?

Yes. Now the road

is long and I am

it and it is me

and the view is

what I allow myself

to be.