Granny, Harry and the Sea

by Barbara Claridge

Search for a silver pebble

And an oyster shell with wings

Thread strings of weed from tidal waves

With pearls-of-shore and gems from pools

I’ll find for you a hermit crab

And limpets made from lapis-blue

Stones with holes and shining shards

Or washed-white cuttlefish bones

Bring me a splinter of polished glass

In a million grains of spangled sand

Then a stranded starfish shadow

Etched on a wave-worn stone

We’ll save them in a mermaid’s purse

Locked with a driftwood key

We’ll place it as the cornerstone

Of then and now and what’s to be

Ask the passing Arctic tern

To lend a precious pinion feather

I can write your name in sand

Then we’ll trace the letters together

When daytime ends and twilight comes

I’ll wrap you in a shawl of foam

A cloth of cloud and folded sky

With buttons of fossilised moon

Between the whispers of a reed

And the whistles of marram grass

I’ll rock you as we count the stars

Each mirrored where we swim

Bring me a silver pebble

And an oyster shell with wings

I’ll hold you while we watch the waves

And think of ways to save the sea

Inspiration: The poem tells the story of a beachcombing game between a small boy and his granny. Found items are imagined from real, they are locked in a purse, like a time capsule, ‘We’ll place it as the cornerstone of then and now and what’s to be’. Grandchildren are the ones who will save the sea because I think it’s too late for me.

Photo by Barbara Claridge

Barbara is now retired but had a long career as a Hampshire Primary Headteacher, where outdoor learning was a passion. Wider experience included short-term voluntary work in Ghana and Namibia, and with the British Council in Beijing and Pittsburg. In the UK, she is involved in voluntary community and environmental work. Part of her year is now spent in Brittany gardening. Since retirement she has completed an MA in Wild Writing, Landscape and Environment at the University of Essex.