2nd December 2020
Go beach-barefoot in December…?
Not as often as September.
Barebod bathing in December???
December’s lure’s a sunny sea!
Surely sane folk, come November…?
No, they don’t: still in December.
But the temperature, in December?
Still some summer memory.
Same behaviour, in December…?
No, no, no: change in November!
So what alters, come November?
No more night swims, not for me!
Naked flames again, December:
Through the evening, flares and embers.
Stoveside stretching makes remember
How it so long past would be…
Sixty-year-ago December –
After bathtime, shivering timbers
Down cold stairs to flares and embers:
Bareskin firelove, age of three!
© Christopher Jessop 2020
