The Collectors
Brighton beach, midsummer,
the elements caress each other,
as if winning attention is a great competition.
Which piece of plastic shines brightest on the rocks?
Beneath a steel grey sky, beside gunmetal shimmer,
we walk, leaning into the wind, ice-cream and fairings
our worthy ballast. We carry the remains in a sturdy cloth bag.
Busily, a man with a machine sweeps the foreshore,
swooping, arcs mapping the day’s contours,
holding hopes of a worthy hoard.
He tries to constellate things back together.
Beneath his breath, my son whispers,
he’ll only find bottle tops and other problems
My eyes question, so he continues to tell me the truth.
We reach for our black bag and make our own collection.
a few wrappers from France, a bottle that maybe Chinese.
Besides, I know what real treasure is,
and he raises a shining pebble – here –
between finger and thumb is a miracle of time.
I pick up rope and fishing line, disentangle a crab,
long dead, ensnared by mistake, never rescued.
We are shaped by the circular breathing seas.
In that moment, I know that a child’s wisdom is right.
There will never be conflict with nature for me.
One person cannot hold it back, yet each time we visit,
like others, we kneel in prayer and gather debris.
Brighton beach, midsummer,
grey sea, hard sky, bringing me all the lessons I need,
the challenges of having enough and cleaning up,
to keep the magic and wonder possible to hold,
in a small hand’s grasp.
Alison Jones
Alison Jones is a teacher, and writer with work published in a variety of places, from Poetry Ireland Review, Proletarian Poetry and The Interpreter’s House, to The Green Parent Magazine and The Guardian. She has a particular interest in the role of nature in literature and is a champion of contemporary poetry in the secondary school classroom. Her pamphlet, ‘Heartwood’ was published by Indigo Dreams in 2018, with a second pamphlet. ‘Omega’, and a full collection forthcoming in 2020.
https://www.indigodreams.co.uk/alison-jones/4594492474
Photo credit @bjhguenn at http://www.unsplash.com
The Beach Hut 