Solent Sea

Mud brown seaweed
Flops upon the shingle
Sucked back into the sea
By the next wave
And mingles
With the white carrier bag
Which floats like a giant jellyfish
In the Solent sea.

I long to swim
In the murky waters
Cooling from the noonday sun
But the sharp shingle prevents me
Or so I tell myself.

And then I remember days
Of my younger years
When I'd go in anyway
Sometimes fully clothed
And laugh at the shocked faces
Of passers-by -
Shaking their heads and asking 'Why?'
'Because we can,'
Was always our reply.
Then drip-dry
On the beach
Late into the long summer evenings.