Solstice

Our closest neighbour

is soaked in seawater again

The local mope and his housebound wench

the waves light them up like a henge

a second a stroke – my instructors motto

when improving front-crawl technique

tick-after-tick-after-tick-after-breathe

I’d practice three times every week.

The water from the window kiss

Euphoric music in the bay

One hour by boat, no road riviera,

from white sheets, to blue waves,

refrain.

No streams nor brooks

Just endless ocean deeper than mountains inverted;

scramble the defences to see the sea turtles in person;

be the boys who dive for pearls, 

ten minutes underwater.

HOROZ purrs;

he leaves ripples as gifts

in the same way we leave the shore

and everything with it,

for the mysteries of the deep.

The moon unfolds at dusk

she harnesses the beach

and spreads thinly across the bay

and showers us with love.

Out in the open,

completely safe from harm

it’s hard to explain,

exactly what we come here for,

to the centre of the Aegean Sea

to float at night and speculate.

Say what you see

Explain how you feel,

YOU ARE ENOUGH.