Here, there and everywhere, the deepening green

Of forests: tart scent of resin in the air.

These never-ending pines bring on hypnosis.

Parallel lanes keep flickering to infinity.

Metallic tints corrode each flaking carapace.

x

We go in search of the most hidden ponds,

Far from all bright parasols, quite off the route

Of any tarmac cycle path; the sands

There, where the snake discards its skin,

Trod only by the Fairy Melusine.

x

Here, there and everywhere, each placid dune

Deepens our sleep with hints of the Sandman.

Breezes bend her mass to the never-ending

Curve of the ocean.  Motherly ways

Of completing things amend each soft relapse.

x

We drift across her crown, our hardened feet

Engulfed by grains which give underneath us

Leaving ephemeral tracks: they simply

Vanish in an hour or so; restoring ribs

Where pine-cones read as nipples.

x

Here, there and everywhere, the breakers glint

And steepen ultramarine, splintering

Vague plantations into carbonated spume.

It seems amazing that a thing could make a perfect form

Simply by collapsing on itself.

x

We sink before its equidistant line.

Close up, the waves choose to hover

Before they come down.  Our pleasure then

Beats many another – bravely being

Bowled about like puppies by their mother.

x

Here, there and everywhere, behind the dune,

By tracks where children cycle at the side

Of jogging mothers, everyday more lean,

The forest breezes murmur of the sea

While breeding pigeons croon for Melusine.

x

*

From Dancers in Daylight, published by Anvil Press back in 2003