As I meander through familiar dunes

That undulate between beach and road,

The light of early sun flashes on undulating waves

In shivering salutation to May morning.

Distinctive, piercing tones of hovering herring gulls

Form a shrill counterpoint to sea’s susurration,

As waves break and retreat over silvered sandy foreshore.

Spiky marram grass sprouts haphazardly through sand underfoot,

Prickling pleasurably against my naked feet.

Pausing from my reflective perambulation to look out to sea,

I hear a jarring rattle of metallic ropes

Flapping in light breeze against the mast of a sailing dinghy

Lying drunkenly between dunes and high water mark.

No-one intrudes to disturb my introspection.

Solitary signs of life in view are hazy figures I suspect to be children,

Gambolling in swirling surf at distant end of strand.

I contemplate their carefree frolics for a few moments,

Then continue on my way, veering towards surging eddies of ebbing tide.

As I approach water’s edge, I have almost convinced myself

That the intended swim before breakfast was a good idea.