Early pebbles 2nd-4th

2nd


The fulmar catches the wind,
banks right
and etches a line
on the ocean top.
Three flaps
clear it of the wave crest
before it disappears out of sight
into the trough.




3rd




Five
standing by the starboard railings,
watching the supply boat
plunge and rise,
watching two men
struggling to connect the hose
while the water
rushes past their feet
to return to the sea.




4th




The sun rises aft today
an highlights foamy wavecrests.
Cool, a gentle breeze
and on the horizon
the tanker.

First of June's pebbles

After the success of the last river of stones in January (see my first January post for details here) there's another happening this month. Actually, I've just noticed I'm a month early - perhaps I'll just keep going anyway.

Three levels above the deck,
a tarpauline flaps in the wind,
keeping the rain off instruments,
a shifting spanner, an oily rag,
and a chair pushed under
a scaffolding bench.

Bathers

 

Stepping naked from the water,

Renoir's bathers
dry themselves in the Paris sun.
Set in brushstrokes,
Bohemian days,
surviving motherhood
and old age.