Beachcomber, 2022

This morning I was reading the latest Writing Magazine, sitting outside in the sunshine.  Each month they publish a writing challenge - you can choose whether to complete the fiction,  non fiction,  memoir or poetry challenge,  with the stipulation that you can only take 20 minutes! 

The poetry challenge was to write an updated version of Beachcomber, a poem by the Scottish poet George Mackay Brown,  which you can read at:  https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/beachcomber/. 

Twenty minutes is not long to do justice to the challenge,  so I took an extra 20 minutes.  It could do with some more editing,  but it's amazing what you can do when you are focused.  


Monday,  I found a bright red flip flop,
Its toepost broken, 
It limped its way one-footed into my litter sack. 

Tuesday, half a garden chair
Missing an armrest
It's seat worn shiny by countless sitters.

Wednesday,  an empty 2litre bottle of Fanta,
Filled with salt water
A miniature ocean,  no longer neon orange. 

Thursday I found nothing but bottle tops, 
Plastic straws, cigarette butts,
The usual detritus,  hardly worth the notice. 

Friday I held a baby doll's head
Its sightless eyes rolled back, 
Refusing to accept it had left the nursery. 

Saturday,  a carrier bag of empty sandwich packets, 
Yogurt pots and crisps, 
Disowned by sated owners once the contents had gone.  

Sunday,  I took a day of rest from the beach,
Left the piles of plastic 
Mounting up, until my return on Monday.  


© Copyright 2022. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved






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