Two Careful Owners

Ten years, this summer.

sanding the rust spots on the wheel arch,

feeling the brail of time's slow passing.

a photo, not yet framed,

of two careful owners on the seafront,

greatcoat and conspiratorial glint

(harlot behind the lens)

alongside sailor's cap and

an accommodating smile.

weather grey as the town,

tipping like an oyster from its shell

into the granite sea

(where I sometimes imagine

he took his leave)

shrill as a squeegee

on the dry slope of windscreen,

seagulls soar higher than I or you can know,

pebble-skim shadows

in the suds of a stream

in search of a river.

two estuaries:

a north and a west &

a south and an east;

a clutch and a clasp.

Full service record, stamp for each year.

no tattooed tear, but as ritual as memory,

and tended as dutifully as circumstances have allowed.

This summer. Ten years.

August 2015