Greetings From Abersoch

The lion-coloured, boat-littered sand
is packed and wrinkled by ebbing water,
the sea ruffled in the breeze, smooth in lee.
A father is strolling with his little daughter.
Above the bay, heather is blazing at the sea.

A sky of cobalt blue beams over all,
dabbed with cotton candy tufts of cloud.
Crazy wharf, footstool to the jaunty town,
pastel-coloured houses coil and crowd
the slope, tangling, tumbling down.

Over here bobs a little harbour,
with lively thickets of dancing masts.
Lovers walk through spent wave-suds,
footprints as foredoomed as worm-casts.
One summer morning, Under Milk Wood.

I found the picture postcard in a drawer.
A long-dead June flared into life again,
a Te Deum striking up in deepest Lent.
Today she wouldn't even know my name,
but "with love" it was signed.

And with love it was sent.

Author's Note

Abersoch -- a pretty little beach resort in Wales
Under Milk Wood -- A theatre play by Dylan Thomas, about an idyllic Welsh coastal town
Te Deum -- A religious oratorio, usually performed as a triumphant celebration