A walk over the dunes,
round a naked headland
crisp white sand
the walk liberating
an escape from routine
the hues golden,
rising and flowing,
and taking account of my footprints;
I even run a little,
through swerves of waves,
letting my mind scamper
beyond the sharp, formal lines
of my writing
to whatever nature decides for me,
boundary-less,
and free of conclusions,
going along with the wind,
the trawling gulls,
the transitions of beach and ocean;
it’s not often that
I allow myself
to simply occur,
like air, like shoals,
and the endless turnstone darts
at the shallow’s edge;
no news from home,
from the world,
no orders from above or below,
no preparations,
this randomness
as fruitful as the bayberries,
the rolling fields of pebble and seaweed and shell;
from the top of a dune,
serenity pervades,
a hard climb but an easy victory.
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Orbis, Dalhousie Review and the Round Table. Latest books, “Leaves On Pages” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Lana Turner and Hollins Critic.
Photo by Andrew Baxter on Unsplash
