Its hunger insatiable, the tide
gnaws at the Jurassic undercliff
with the patience of a life force
without limit or expiration.
Seawater spoons grains of earth
soft as sugar, reveals coiled
ammonites buried when
memory was planetary.
The precipice edges back.
Homes surrender gardens;
dead ends of streets recoil
as wire barriers shift inland.
Black bones exposed by leaf-fall
engrave a zinc plate of sky
as roots scrabble to grip friable
earth as it slowly cascades
to be ingested by a sea rising
from indifference or neglect.
David Olsen
Illustration Rupert Loydell