Saltburn in August

Twenty months ago I last saw the sea,
and it was here, on the last day of the year.
It’s many more months since I saw it in summer,
I can’t remember where.

Today there are sunbathers, surfers and donkeys,
the chalets are full. It always seems
to be sunny here, though today
you can just make out the turbines

at Redcar; Hartlepool’s lighthouse is hidden.
I don’t regret coming back inland
through the Italian Gardens, missing out the town,
but I do wish now I had walked on the sand.

-Peter J. Donnelly

Bios And Links

-Peter J Donnelly

lives in York where he works as a hospital secretary. He has a degree in English Literature and a MA in Creative Writing from the University of Wales Lampeter. He has been published in various magazines and anthologies including Dreich and Writer’s Egg, where some of these poems have previously appeared. Last year he won second prize in the Ripon Poetry Festival competition.