Oh for the days when I could slip away

At lunchtime to the sea, where I could sniff 

Th'ozone, and dippers skimming over pools,

Left easing in a midday warmth, that fools

My senses to believe this fragile life

Could last forever, if only I could day;

But working every day, I've found no time

To walk down to the shore, as winter drifts

Its way onto the beach, and cannot curl

Myself into the silence of the swirl

Of spume cresting the pebbles as it lifts

The flotsam of the day out of my mind.

            When daily tension's grind tears me apart

            Our Sussex sea alone can heal my heart.

Brian Hick December 2008

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