July writings, 2014

words waste
waste words
time speeds
and goes 
careering past
or at a solemn pace
three letters may stretch out a thousand years
while dropping down 
into a profound dark
fall all our whispers

(2 July 2014)

Back home in Amsterdam
Makes all the difference that the sun is shining.
Most people speaking Dutch.
My languages return.
Almost forty-five years since I left England.
My children and grandchildren live in this land.
I am filled with sweet wine; no need to ask for more.

All tension gone: no waking in the morning 
fearful for the day’s sea crossing;
or shakings and bangings of the boat through the long night.
Other discomforts soon forgotten... yet their memory lingers ...
mosquitoes moaning; awkwardness of performing on the toilet
(especially while on a bouncy crossing);
lack of space to stretch out; 
a general feeling of cramped quarters;
clothes squashed into lockers
or crammed into too-short hanging spaces;
the need to check perishables daily
to make sure nothing’s going mouldy;
and the impossibility (because of ubiquitous seasickness!)
to read or write -- except when the boat is absolutely still.

But what I love on this sea voyage
is the visits to tiny jewel-like islands
tying up in a small harbour
and exploring a new world
new food, new friends...
And then on land again, all tension goes.
I am happy now; paradoxically happy too on the boat
And never forget the islands in between.

(7 July 2014)