September 2011
Norfolk Walk – 360 degrees
Our ankles turn and rick on razor shells
left ploughed and furrowed by last night’s tide.
Starboard, a breeze abrades the dunes
distributes particles to sandblast exposed skin.
To port, at least a mile away, the North Sea
picks up conversations and with a great howl
holds them underwater until they drown
leaving us with static and white noise.
Above, and all around, purple clouds
drop scuds of rain. And on we trudge.
Over Holkam, though, there’s enough blue sky
to make a pair of sailor’s trousers, and the wind,
which must have missed the shipping forecast,
veers round and shoves us forward,
towards the other walkers further up the beach,
sleek as seals in waterproofs,
behind us, we sense human warmth. If we need to,
we only have to stretch our arms out
for our Thinsulated finger-tips to touch
and we could circumnavigate the globe.
