A WRITER’S BEACH
An exultation of larks . . . murmuration
of starlings . . . a garrulousness of gulls?
As I follow the lip of froth, sea birds
by the dozen lift off, only to resettle
further down the beach, nestling in the sand
like warm-blooded stones: an artist’s installation.
Amidst their screaming conviviality,
I note the feathers that mark their passage:
a long curving grey, a dainty white comma,
and this – a downy, chocolate brown – each find
a perfect quill. Clearly, what brings me here
isn’t simply the white-lipped waves beneath
ink-splattered skies, but these birds, oceanic
birds on the wing – each lending me a pen.
Alice Kavounas
Alice Kavounas is an American poet, a graduate of Vassar, published by Shearsman. This poem is included in her fourth and latest collection Abandoned Gardens, Selected & New Poems. She has lived in NY and London and moved to Cornwall over 30 years ago. Alice is a tutor with The Poetry School London. She created the poetry in place app Words in Air, with developer John Kennedy. She tweets @alice_kavounas
Photo credit ~ @treesforanya at http://www.unsplash.com
The Beach Hut 
Such a lovely invitation to the beach and to your superb poetry, Alice.
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