Walking

I am often seen prowling this promenade,
Staring out at the changing tempers of the sea
By the many lights of days and nights.

Time and the waves overlap here in the tides;
Their past and futures to collide in endless rhythm.

I step over the criss-cross patterns of timeless footprints caught
In wet, strewn shingle and salt on stone; paths
To the various moods and thoughts that drove me on or home.

Turning now, I catch the shadows of myself in motion; lit
By sunlight sent ages past through space and I see a kaleidoscope face;
Shaved, unshaved and set in all emotion.

I stop to wonder at the scene and stoop to light the usual cigarette,
Looking up to find the visions gone; instead a solitary seagull hovering
On the constant breeze and the thrashing sea ahead.

I set my shoulders and ease my passage on, happy to leave these things behind
As those times passed and yet to find.