Seaside Village

Life for a child at this seaside Village, wild and free A band of misfits come together, boys and girls They Gathered overlooking the village, a day of adventures waited Through grassland over boulders, passing fisherman’s cottages Clothing colours blazing as they ran Girl’s dresses flowed as they ran to their adventures Older ones watching out for younger Across a road with ultra-caution Onward, the Promenade waited, Villagers on their daily walks Children Running, always running, passing yachts People waving, People calling, all known to each other The children holding plastic buckets Searching among rocks, looking for Periwinkles, Periwinkles quite tiny, delicious to eat Periwinkles are snails of the sea Oldest behaving as sheep dogs, keeping them together Bare feet running across the rocks Many inlets to explore, including caves Did smugglers haunt these caves in day’s gone bye? The caves made voices echo, they shouted out with gusto Coast guards hut, nestled on top of a coastal hill Welcomed, with stories from days gone by Looking through telescopes at the ocean Laughter and voices of children at play Summer appears, swimming added to their games Clothing removed, swimming costumes underneath clothing Into the ocean without fear, no lifeguard near Swimming out and around the anchored yachts Ocean water no fear for these self-taught aquanauts Danger does not enter their kingdom of thinking Reach the shore, aware of others still out there They stand and look for trouble brewing Adult minds with adult thinking No need to say time for bed tonight Their beds, safe and warm, ready for another day to dawn School days came and went, children longing for the weekend Growing up can be quite a shame, they no longer join in the games Gang grows smaller as they grow older leaving village for pastures greener All moved on, the silence quite disturbing The wind now occupies the cliff tops A young man and woman glance at each other, recognition happens Friends watch on as they embrace, tears flowing These two have bonded once again Thoughts and memories turn to their village Trying to contact friends from the past Memories locked away, coming to the fore on this day They can only guess where the rest of the gang all went Messages sent, hopefully making contact Planned visit to their childhood village and breathe the air They now live in cities resembling concrete jungles Arriving at their village one fine summer’s day Walk to the cliff top, out of breath by the time they arrived there Hand in hand, looking out over their beloved village bay This couple had added true love to their friendship Holding hands, listening to the wind as it drifted around them Both became aware of voices approaching Both turned, who was visiting this place? An approaching group came into sight The group ran toward them, a gang rekindled Friendship welcomed them once again Worn out from greetings and emotion, the group joined hands A line formed facing the ocean,tears flowed All shouted out, we are never ever going to leave this place It was the same as they had said as children They stood and watched the Ocean, hour after hour A pact was made on the cliff top that day, visit each year This pact it remained until they became much older The group dwindling until none remained The cliff top remains, an overgrown area waiting for visitors The wind blows between the trees and undergrowth Locals speak of hearing children’s voices on stormy windy days Gossip of seeing two figures standing at the cliff edge, maybe.