15/02/2009

DIVING by John Doak

Naked on the Solent boardwalks
we jabber with swarming horseflies

thick air bloomy and pungent
sweeping our rivers along to the shore

We tangle with wild brambles
and our slender shadows blur and recoil

No telling how deep the water runs
but we leap regardless

burned shoulders soothed again
in the rush...

Rippling
back through the surface

miraculously hand in hand
there is no one around to applaud our bravery

but a few startled gulls
whose fishing we have ruined

2 comments:

  1. After reading this poem I feel it's worthy of being called a change. I welcome you to my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful opening lines:
    Naked on the Solent boardwalks
    we jabber with swarming horseflies


    There's a welcome haiku sparseness in the couplets, great movement through the poem making you want to read couplet after couplet, and a beautifully observed 'simple moment' sustained throughout.

    ReplyDelete