SALT MARSHES


I remember the marshes,
So wide and sky-roofed
With creeks where crabs might lie.
Adventure was in those marshes,
Glorious childhood adventure.
On the way to the glittering river
Who knew what wonder might be found
On that wide, wind-blown loneliness.



Sitting on the sea wall, eating sandwiches,
The river in front and the marshes behind,
We belonged to the place,
We belonged to the time,
As never before and never since.
Our mud-stained feet and luckily undrowned bodies
Were one with the river,
One with the salt-born loveliness,
And one with Creation’s eternal soul.

Saltmarshes