Cornwall Poem
when I fly into the heartland like a speeding arrow
the road opens up before me
like a river with a hundred estuaries
all leading to the sea.
in the car park at Wadebridge
persistent rain, and the sand
in the cracks on the floor of the van
make this a safe place to sit and wait
listening to the fingers of rain drumming on the roof
and some seagull choir gathered outside
practicing their broken song
grey storm swell moves up-river,
shining her face over cobblestones
river feels the ache of heavy steel ships
crawling across her back,
it always rains at Trebarwith
the rocks are big and black,
sulking at the arriving tide
slapped too many times with wet hands,
hung all over with limpets.
on Pentire Point
(the tallest place on earth
where you can look
north
west,
south,
at an infinity of water)
the wind wrecks you
– apart from that time
when it was so still
that the waves fell flat on their faces, and stayed down,
and the surfers at Polzeath smashed up their longboards
to make goal posts and cricket stumps,
built a raft out of the remainder
and sailed as near to the sun as they could.
the salt from the sea
on lips,
clinging to hair,
stinging the eyes,
the rush and burst
when a wave breaks over you,
the dipping and vanishing horizon, hid behind water,
is a long way away but you could reach it so easily…
at Crantock, the signs scream DANGER!
at Treyarnon Bay, the signs scream DANGER!
at Trevone, the gaping hole in the cliff
where pirates used to toss their victims
where smugglers hid their stolen loot
screams ‘FEAR ME!
I AM THE RAGING SEA!
I am your mother, you masseuse, your mistress,
I am not to be ignored.’
summer comes to Cornwall and the sand is warm between your toes,
it’s hot between your toes!
the sky is boldly blue!
a ship steams its way across the lip of the horizon,
they are doing press-ups on deck.
windsurfers decorate the cove with their fluttering flags,
giant butterflies swept in on the breeze.
there is a cliff facing west over the mouth of the Camel
the grass is soft and springy
the drystone is warm
there will be cold beer, a softly plucked guitar
and many people out walking their dogs,
drifting carelessly in and out of scene
but it hasn’t finished!
if you choose, you may join us for nightswimming
and look up at the sky as it fills with stars
as it bubbles up with stars
as the stars overflow and pour into the sea
and we are awash with stars!
and you should have seen Kynance Cove
one February morning when the sun rolled up his sleeves
and the wind was out to play,
running wild with the waves,
wrestling, rough-and-tumble with the white waves
mighty rocks shivered under the rain of blows
but the sand was laughing, full of glee,
and the world spread out and out
like a joyous carpet being unrolled
God said ‘It is finished! The pinnacle
of creation is now in motion’
the sea and the sun
and the mighty wind
roared their approval.
* * *
I left thousands of words in the dust of Gyllyl beach,
hundreds of thousands in the woods along the Penryn river,
I left my sadness under the red bench in the churchyard at St Gluvias,
I left my naivety under the stars one evening at St Agnes,
I left my contentment on Broad Street, in sight of the sails,
I left my childhood waving from the harbour wall at St Mawes,
I left my disillusionment in the car park at Land’s End,
I found fear, and a taste for the other, and a sensation not unlike alien abduction,
under the aching legs of the old lifeboat station at Lizard Point.
I left my pride on the cobbles beside the Maritime Museum,
I left my pride on the promenade at 4am,
I left my joy in the door handle at Number 32,
I left my song in the porch at Seahaven,
I left pieces of my skin in the sand at Perranporth, Trevone, Swanpool, Fistral, Porthcurno, St Ives, Porthtowan,
and with Granddad Jack’s ashes at Portreath.
I spread myself all over the place,
but I didn’t lose, I gained,
I looked God in the eyes
every time I stared at the sea,
I looked God in the eyes
every time I stared at the sea,
I looked God in the eyes
every time I stared at the sea,
and God, the creator of all things,
looked straight back at me.
