Exeter to Teignmouth, Off Peak Day Return

Cherry

By Kilb50

Mon, 13 Feb 2023
  • 974 reads
10 comments
 

 

A poet once cared for his sick brother Tom

a conscientious lad named young Johnny Keats.

He travelled here from London in 1818

and walked, as I do now, along Teignmouth’s

   cobbled streets.

 

I lick ice cream on the blustery front

bury my feet in dark-damp sand.

A  retired colonel – a twitcher - looks my way

as he stands alone on flooded land.

 

I buy second-hand books from a Rescue shop,

sit in a café on a street with no name.

I eat fish and chips, drink lukewarm tea.

It’s November, out of season - squalls of cold,

   fine rain.

 

Cuts of stone make a defensive wall,

young men and women examine sea front clay -

student geologists dressed in bright orange bibs -

they keep the rail safe and the tides at bay.

 

Did a maiden in a gown observe the Atmospheric train 

as she took a short cut to Dawlish country fayre ?

where Johnny waited patiently to meet his secret friend

breathless and hungry, with fancy ribbons in her hair.

 

I picture them lying blessed in salting light,

take photos of the waves, the red ochre rust.

Lemon fern and spear grass thrive after recent storms,

the cliff top is netted to stop it crumbling to dust.

 

I wave at the geologists filling buckets with loam;

at the station I wonder about a young poet’s heart -

how he trod rumple daisies as he hurried back to Tom.

I sense them all from my carriage as we ready to depart.

Certificate 15
Poem

Comments

Submitted by Ed Crane on

When I lived in Norfolk wandering the beaches at Happisburgh, Holkam and Dunwich in Suffolk in the winter was great.

But I guess as a kid I was an Emmet or a Grockle when we holidayed in the West. 

Your poem reminded me of those winter days on the beaches.

Thanks

 

Submitted by Kilb50 on

Thanks for reading & your comment Ed. All the best to you.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

You evoke so much in this poem which was such a pleasure to read.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Kilb50 on

Thanks as always Jenny. Best wishes to you.

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

Nicely done Kilb - you took this reader there with you

 

Submitted by Kilb50 on

Thanks insert. All the best to you.

 

Submitted by marandina on

Such an evocative journey with so many historical reference points and beautifully observed moments along the way. A stunning part of the world for the setting. Enjoyed. Paul

 

Submitted by Kilb50 on

Thanks marandina. The train journey from Exeter to Teignmouth - and beyond - is one of life's small pleasures. All the best to you.

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I liked this so much! The remembering/transcribing of words in poems, of poet's history, of clay and stone in all their layers. Travelling from present to past, then being on a train ready to travel in a different way. And I liked all the details of your day, the colours and tastes of your present. And your poem, another layer. As Insert says I felt there, too. 

 

Submitted by Kilb50 on

Ah yes - well spotted Di. Keats wrote a poem about Teignmouth & its 'maidens' ; and Betjeman wrote about Dawlish and its 'Bird-watching Colonels on the old sea wall' so plenty of literary inspiration for me! Sadly, Tom Keats died in December 1818 of tuberculosis. If you're ever in Teignmouth, you can visit Keats House where John cared for his brother. All the best to you.