Winter Lighthouse Rainbow Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

They've done some very fancy planting
Outside the Marine Research Centre
And though it was cold in the shadows
That slanted down from the north -
In the sun it was glorious and there were flowers.

Midway through my walk, I stopped to talk
To a young American from Wisconsin
Who was learning Japanese from
Notes that kept blowing away - with him
Complaining justifiably about arcane complexity.

Later, a girl was riding along the beach shingle
On her pebbled-back half-stock horse
Half appaloosa pony, testing the shallows
Sitting back deep, straight and prim
On her English saddle, English-style.

And earlier, on my walk from the park
Westwards along the sandy pavement,
I had sat on a memorial wooden seat,
Dedicated to Martha Dunn who died aged 30 -
Me pondering poetically about ephemerality.

But don't let me forget the rainbow
On Baring Head that was my first impression
Of the bay, the harbour entrance and the Strait -
Taking it as a propitious portent or good omen
That despite everything, the covenant was still honoured.