Swept Away

Mid afternoon, the sun slams down, On the shifting sands of a coastal town, The monument points with a gun to the sky, The heat haze displaced by a seagull’s cry; On the quay I sit and look out to sea, At the distance between the horizon and me. At a quarter to four I have not moved on, Wearing haunted looks that I thrive upon, An ice cream melts in a splitting cone, Seeping through cracks to a twilight zone. I take a deep breath and rise to my feet, So cold and alone in the sweltering heat. At the closing of day, the sun settles down, The night muscles in on a coastal town, I drift to the bar and the sea licks the walls Of the harbour without where the darkness falls. I look to the dusk for an answer or two, But there’s no sign of life, and there’s no sign of you.