19/08/2026
IMMERSION
For the duration of the coastal journey,
on a train occasionally dipping inland,
the young woman averted her eyes,
studying a device in her gloved hand.
She missed the quivering morning light,
enthralling me from my window seat,
as it gradually brightened all in view,
and gladdened me, head to heart to feet.
dark shapes of swimmers
parallel to the coastline
cutting through chilly waters
unperturbed by cold or brine,
terns gathered in clusters
next to a tidal inlet
trusting the promise of dawn
on a strand that seemed wet,
light skim of frothy frost
in back gardens and lawns
on skeleton branches and twigs
on limp flowers and fronds.
When the final station beckoned,
she suddenly raised pale blue eyes,
I felt like relaying all I’d witnessed,
under our clear December skies.
Didn't she realize how fortunate we are
to have natural vision to freely imbibe
such transient scenes, from train or car,
our world's offerings, too sublime to describe.
By Catherine Sadlier
