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Memory Of Grace

At dawn,
still water mirroring
emerald silence
of forested hills
marching up to mountains
on all sides,
we set out across the loch
when tide was high and blue
with cloudless sky,
oars trailing coiling whirlpools,
the hiss of water underneath
and creak of rowlocks on still air,
while beneath our boat
the ocean filled with pulsing jellyfish,
delicate,
clear mantled,
ringed with purple,
bright against the dark of depth.

Somewhere in that
soundless space
between one shore and the other
mackerel boiled without warning
up onto the surface
to fill the air with sudden
hungry screams
of diving gulls and terns
that made you laugh with joy
as we threw our feathered hooks
across the gunnels
and hauled in a dozen flapping fish
in as many frenzied seconds.

Far across that stretch
of empty water
we set our feet upon
a curve of golden sand
we knew had not felt footsteps
for longer than a century,
and there we ate our meal
of roasted mackerel
steamed mussels,
kelp and cockles
taken from the rocks and sand
on either side.

Afterwards we swam,
safe in nakedness
and sunlit
blue-green sea,
the seals watching
sleek and saucer-eyed,
curious as cats
before we stretched out
on the warm sand where
you fell into
contented slumber in my arms,
and I spent the lengthening shadows
of that highland afternoon
watching your sweet face
and the rise and fall
of your breasts,
wondering,
as I touched your sun-brown skin,
how I ever came to share
the grace that was your life.

Style / type: 
Free verse
Last few words: 
From the old site, one of my own personal favorites.
Editing stage: 

Comments

Loch Sunart and Loch Teacus, not Loch Ness.

Yes, a fond memory, of an old sweetheart in a wild place.
Glad you enjoyed it.

Respectfully, Race

"Laws and Rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" - Race-9togo

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Race_9togo

author comment

You live in Scotland and you don't eat fish???

Brown trout pan roasted with oatmeal coating and butter
Poached salmon with hollandaise sauce (THE scottish classic!)
Baked mackrel stuffed with razor clams and wild mushrooms picked that very morning (OMG that's SOOOOoooo good)
Salt Cod with Mashed Potatoes and Kale!

LOL

The girl in question is not my woman now. She is gone, but always remembered.

Glad that you enjoyed this old one, Rosina.

Respectfully, Race

"Laws and Rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" - Race-9togo

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Race_9togo

author comment

ok, let me firstly get this questioning
out of the way ...

loch ...lake, yes?
yet all attributes from
"when tide was high..."
speak of the ocean

i had a hard time reconciling
the picture, until i decided
that the loch must have led to
the ocean
(am i being a bit anal about it all?)

now...to the poem

omg!!!!!!!!!
how has this not had more reviews?
this is fantastic!
(forgive the teenage gush)

i was completely, utterly, lost in the scenario
such simple, yet evocative imagery

you have spoken of good poetry having
the ability to stay the moment...
to suspend the time in which it is being read, so
that nothing exists except the picture unfolding
by the words written...

dear OFL,
that's what this write did for me

thank you

cheers
p

In Scotland a loch (roughly pronounced with a softer version of the german "ch") can be a freshwater lake, as in Loch Morar, or Loch Ness, or a loch can be a long finger of the sea that reaches far inland, like Loch Linne, or Loch Sunart, where this poem is set. The norwegians call the saltwater versions Fjords.
My blushes at your opinion of this piece. It is from the old site, so I thought that most had already read it, and not many needed to comment on it.

Thank you back,

Respectfully, Race

"Laws and Rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" - Race-9togo

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Race_9togo

author comment

Thank you so much my friend.
This is a real event, one that happened in my youth, a day that I cannot forget, and a love who is long gone, but still looks in on my life now and then.

Thanks again,

Respectfully, Race

"Laws and Rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" - Race-9togo

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Race_9togo

author comment
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