Keep scrolling down for poem…
TWO SUDDENLY FOUR
10th August 2021
One girl, suddenly two –
I playing alone at this worth-the-walk cove meet you,
Who live here all year:
As well as generously friendly, you’re so lucky too!
For both, no longer the heart-weighting Only Child Blues.
One suddenly two, clicking straight away,
Shall surely fly the hours of this salty summer day.
Ages close; but what matters most –
We see each other’s thoughts so easily,
Familiar as lines from a well-loved play.
Two, joyously two, gently egging each other further:
Long-shore gaspy fast exploring,
Streams leaped and stones hurdled.
Barefoot in old plain costumes, conjuring new games everywhere:
You more tanned, mine the fairer hair.
Two: ‘Fancy a swim now–?’ Oh, I DO!
So, into the so-clear sun warmed lazy sea.
Smiles and long light laughter after,
All past the ripple-whispered south side cliffs,
We seem to have come out miles and miles.
Two, sun-floating; then, again, I’m led by you:
Am urged, ‘Now we must dive!’
And thus see where it is you’ve led me to…
A deep low tide lagoon, kelpy walls, sand floored:
Here might one play for evermore.
Two, and no more: unseen from beach,
So much down below within our reach!
Your underwater eyesight betters mine:
You sea-swim the year round, dive all the time;
But so much I’m discovering, I can’t mind.
Two suddenly four:
Has this happened before, is this why you brought us –?
Mermaids, dolphin-fast Celtic sea-daughters:
Playing with them we breathe water, view all as if through glass…
Is time losing meaning? Are our land-lives now in the past?
© Christopher Jessop 2021