Never been to Pensacola
but I know the cold kitten-kisses
of shorebreak ripples
on naked toes
and the rasping sand
wrinkling
in the in-between places
I know that a girl can lose herself
gazing down at the sand
or get dancing colours
in her eyes
guessing at the horizon
or the ghosting-grey waves’
hiss
the gentle
and inescapable (hushed) roar
the breathing of an ubiquitous
sleeping mammal
until all is gone
beyond gone
way beyond gone…
I know how to lick
salt-water from a foot
to blow sand away in a silver-spray
into the air
to join the off-shore breeze’s chatter
as grains slip against pebbles and shells
I know how to make a girl shiver
draw her jacket round her
and smile
before looking away
(though I have never been to Pensacola)
Sometimes I stumble on the right words
when your clock chimes midnight
and we are nowhere
or nowhere near a lonely strand
and you come close
like a deep kiss in a secret place
like street-whispers
like a glimpse of your skin in the dark
and I have turned a place
into a sharp life-epithet
(for me) you make
it all
so
Pensacola…
Author notes
for chordphrute - work in progress
(there should be a pic, but I can't make it happen with the work pc)
In a list
Comments
1 - 18 of 18
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inspiring
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Thank you.
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breathtaking
this is beautiful. the line breaks are spot on and make the flow a joy to read. this also reminds me of a joan osborne song (pensacola).
"sometimes i stumble on the right words"
this is just exciting poetry that i love to bits, the imagery was a beautiful trip away from (what's been so far) a mundane day. and hey you're from scotland!
peace and love friend. -Jamie
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hey, I am!
Thank you.
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Oh, my!
So rich, so fresh and sharp.
Not a false note or cliche but still the images are resonant, familiar.
I like this a lot and I believe I'll be reading you regularly.
Thanks for posting this.
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I am in Sarasota, further south than Pensacola, but I've been through there. I just appreciated how one with the sea and shore this made me feel , what beautiful images it brought to mind , what atmosphere. Damn, just wish I could write half this good. Someday I'll make it to Scotland and Ireland and all those green places if only in my dreams.
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Well, as I said in the poem, never been to Pensacola...
Glad you liked this.
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more like the northern California coast...
where there is sea salt, there is a surface to be licked. certainty and uncertainty clamor together in places we've never ventured off to visit. a nice piece of poetry.
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Thanks for the visit and the appreciation.
The photo I was looking at, which inspired the poem, could have been any beach anywhere. It just happened to be Pensacola.
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I love the imagery and the story this tells. Actually Pensacola is too far north, you need to come to Fort Lauderdale. Pensacola is full of old people. We here in Lauderdale don't lick our feet either.
Love,
Amera♥
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simply beautiful poetry...PK
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Thanks, 'skid.
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Ah, I have been to Pensacola and the ocean is beautiful... blue to the end of the earth and the sand is white and fine. 
There's a fabulous cemetery... very old, with birds that fly out of the trees at dusk. 
Beautiful poem, dear one.
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I've been to Pensacola, you can't even see the beautiful beach for all the Condos crowding the sand.. sad ins't it!
So when I read this I kept thinking 'Yes' this is the way it should be, should look, should feel, I'll take your Pensacola over the real deal anyday!!!
laurie
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But if you stand on the beach and look to seaward, it's a different matter.
This poem actually springs from seeing a photo on the dedicatee's blog (I hope to get permission to reproduce it here), on which all you can see is her, her dog, and the sea. When I saw it I wondered where everything and everyone else was, but it didn't really matter, because the vision in the poem is blind to all that. I think you got that.
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AMAZING!
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Sometimes these one-word reviews are the best.
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Aww, I'm glad- it left me speechless.
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