The yellow beach
an edited very old poem
Do you remember that yellow beach
behind those moon-like cliffs?
When I stroll my mind’s mazy streets
memory gets richer.
It’s like the candles in a chapel
up on a visionary mountain
of thyme and honeysuckle.
And what about little Dina’s
oyster-shaped swing,
all kids waiting for their turn,
to push the winner of hide and seek,
an odd honor, as odd as the night
the ship of life disappeared on the horizon
that the Lighthouse stared at indefinitely
and ever since in vain.
Athens, 1996 – translated from Greek in 2020
© ifyouplease 2022
Views: 333
Very beautiful, and written with your usual control.
The last three lines remind me of a mystery surrounding the three lighthouse keepers on the Flannel Isles.
bhi
the lighthouse represents the adult we become if we live long enough, it’s an endless farewell to our lost childhood which is the ship of life. thanks Bhi..
An excellent poem, Nic.
Do you mean something specific by “the ship of life”?
Ah, I see, you’ve already explained it.
Ship of life = lost childhood
Lighthouse = adulthood
hmmmm…..
Not sure if that works. It’s not at all clear.
Why not “the ship of youth”?
And maybe the lighthouse metaphor should be a bit clearer. How about “the tall lighthouse”?…
Just a couple of suggestions.
Also, I think “disappeared over the horizon” would be better.
When a boat disappears, it goes *over* the horizon.
not according to flat earthers. eyes are not strong enough to follow the light wherever it can reach, at some point eyes give up and voila things disappear. or not
Are you actually, seriously, a flat earther?
Let’s just say that the time I was seriously unable to question the shape of this probably badly shaped donut earth is over.
I think the earth’s pear-shaped.
*chuckles*
In a sensory manner, things do disappear on the horizon, and not over it, so I prefer that line; that apart I found the poem just right – a hint of rhyme, and it flowed; thank you.
thank you very much Dodgem!