Neil Young (b.1970 / England)

Seagulls in the church tower calmly nest undeterred,
Though willfully her bells clang the eleventh hour.
Outside another, startled, launches itself from
A weathered crenulation, swoops through streets toward
The old school; rising up, decides to turn and scour
The bay. Tired fishing boats and dinghies tilt, conform
As morning tide repents, drags in the days sad news,
Lapping confessions against hulls, heard by no one.
This small fishing town’s gentle habit continues.
The seagull circles, heading out over tide worn
Coastlines, growing faint like ash against cloudy sky.
Further down the coast, at Fairlight Cove, gasping, drenched,
A man climbs the cliff’s steps too weak to speak or cry,
Bears news; his friends still out there, miles from shore, and drowned.