Beachfront Poem by Charl JF Cilliers

The train slowly moves along
the esplanade

past blocks of houses
like beached whales

white-misted windows staring
and empty benches

looking out to sea
moving from silence

to silence
from sound to sound between silences

the sea sleeping
amongst stones…

…the train passing along
the empty platform:

signs unscrolling in reflected light
the shrill keening

of a public telephone booth, lit
but empty,
disappearing in the dark…