Cullercoats

CULLERCOATS   *

Warm  brown sandstone cottage walls 
Doors and  windows very old
Shelter face from  sea-wind squalls:
Inside, tales of sea are   told

Toy shops there with spinning  windmills
Fisher - women  selling show  me 
Big-clawed  crabs and  periwinkles:
Willicks and  pin  hinny?            *

Twisting road clings on with ease
To the cliff edge way up  high
Salty seaweed on the  breeze :
Speaks  of  rocks and sand and   sky

And though  just a tiny cove
It has  a  brand-new  shining  lifeboat
For  those who go to sea to rove: 
It tells of  men that cannot float

The fish,  the salt, the boat, the rock
The storms and wrecks and  tiny boats
I love to hear the fish-folk  talk  :
Their touching magic anecdotes


Notes   *

Willicks :  Geordie  argot  for  periwinkles.
The pin was needed to pry out the tiny fish from its shell.

Cullercoats is a small fishing village on the east coast of England, near Newcastle.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2010

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November 12, 2010 at 11:39 PM
interesting Sydney,.enjoyed and thanks for the info,,.*p.s.* I posted a poem dedication, hope you can spy your name in there. (IT IS IN THERE)Thanks for all your comments always p.d.
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