Between Two Seas

 Between Two Seas consists of twenty two, mostly short, poems written many years ago whilst I was still living in my beloved Cornwall. I say poems, but more truthfully they are more series of thoughts and observations gathered on my many excursions around the county with my dog. I make no pretensions of being a poet I am not, I am an observer, a people watcher, who records that which presents itself. Words have always meant a lot to me, I was taught to do crosswords at a very early age, which gave me an innate sense of word-play. More than that I discovered books, and the power of the written word to paint pictures in the mind of the reader. Walking for me at that time was very solitary exercise, that is apart from the dozy mutt referred to later. It was not only walking, I could also sit for hours on a rock just watching the sea, contemplating its many faces and moods. It quickly occurred to me that walking should be a solitary thing, that is if I wanted to sit, think and observe. One misses so much when walking with another person because one is always talking about something or other - usually inconsequential rubbish. These musings were very much what I was seeing, thinking and experiencing at the time, usually quickly scribbled down in a notebook that was always in my pocket, and edited later. Now thirty to forty years, in some cases longer, later I feel that they should see the light of day, and stand or fall on their own merit. Between Two Seas comes from Cornwall's unique position between the Atlantic on the north coast and the English Channel on the south. This provides not only the wondrous light admired by so many artists past and present, but also very localised weather conditions at times. The influences upon my musings are many and varied, far too many to list here, but range from Homer to the much beloved Terry Pratchett.