The Sea Poem by David Smart

I will go down to the sea-shore
And throw pebbles in the water
And none shall worry me.

I shall be alone
And untroubled.

When the Sun sets
And the Moon rises
I will ponder on the sea.

It's wonders, it's mysteries,
The internal heavings
The strange sounds
One hears
By the sea.

The wind will come over the water
And it will bring to me
The smell of spices,
Of silks,
Of cedar wood,
Of blood!

Of powder, burnt, expended.
Of strife and war.
Of evil things from the sea floor,
The stink of weed and mud flats at low tide,
The cry of the gull, like a soul lost
In the morning, in the dawn.

When the Sun comes up
And when the Sun goes down
I will watch the sea.


21st Dec 1951