2010/08/28 Sea Affair Poem by Margaret Alice

A delicious day, I lay in the sun on the grass
with the fresh, sweet-smelling wind ruffling
my hair, reading my book, the soft perfume
of honeysuckle and jasmine filling my soul

Pool’s water too cold for a swim, played with
swimsuits, combining old ones for a new look;
when we go to the sea, my best friend; I shall
buy a new one, the old one already worn out

I want to look good for my rendezvous with the
waves, for the magic of rolling in champagne,
I feel thirty years younger when I think of my
affair with the sea that started when I was ten

The first time I greeted the sea and spoke to it
later started walking on the beach, serenading
the waves, beginning a life-long relationship,
leaving the beach after our honeymoon led to

An imbroglio: I burst into tears when waving the
sea goodbye, you were surprised, promised me
we would return every year and we did, we al-
ways go back to my favourite place where

I can play in the waves; even when I feel shy
because I am gaining in age, the sea always
seduces me again, ignoring other women my
age standing to let the waves lap about them

I charge by rolling on a wave with seaweed and
sand in my hair, I desire the sensual caress of the
bubbling waves with a burning that makes me stay
in too long, until you warn my skin is disintegrating

But I cannot choose looks when the sea is waiting -
inviting us to come and play with a languorous
and sinuous charm that fill me all over, spirit,
soul and mind…