Bowlful of Seashells
H. W. Bryce
I have on my desk
a bowlful of seashells.
As I sit and stare at them
My gaze waters and ripples,
And out of the shadowy colours
Wavers an image–
Of myself:
On the sand,
In the lace of the water,
The sun blazing down on my bare, browning back.
I wade with a downward glance.
My eyes catch a glimmer,
And I stop.
My hand enters the froth
With my ankle-deep feet.
When I straighten, I hold . . .
A seashell;
Or a small, lined pebble:
Black, sketched with white veins,
Brown with black belt, red–
Another seashell:
A scarlet, scalloped shell,
Or a tiny, black pearl of a shell,
Pink, purple, brown,
Hollow and spiral shells.
Portraits of former sea lives.
I carried them home, these shells,
And the pebbles, with some tiles,
And marble from a Roman ruin.
They lay there for years undisturbed.
Then we rummaged them through,
My wife and me.
She was thrilled and excitedly said:
“They’re too pretty to touch!”
Almost wept for the frailer ones, crushed,
There, at the bottom of the bag.
She took them
And scattered the pieces onto a card,
And framed them:
A montage of memories,
A memento of many stooping minutes
Which, we agreed,
Were not wasted.
A wave washes the image.
The shells shimmer . . .
My stare . . . stops.
And there lay my memories,
So many portraits . . .
A bowlful of seashells.
To those better times with Ann.
Published in the Richmond Review, London, England, 1960s;
My seashells were gathered along the North African coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
My seashells were gathered along the North African coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
CREDITS: The glass bowlful of seashells – Pixabay
The seashell on hand:https://unsplash.com/photos/ITCL_yPHCsU
credit Photo by Clint McKoy on Unsplash
credit Photo by Clint McKoy on Unsplash
Chasing a Butterfly
Through the close-up lens of his heart, Herb Bryce takes us on a journey into the hazy world of the Alzheimer’s afflicted. He paints a loving and tender picture with words of his life and love, gently unravelling the pages from the spool of his soul. ~ …
FRIESENPRESS.COM
