British Isle Seacoast Poems

Snaefell* Isle of Man)

A windy summit,

sometimes veiled in mist,

rises before me with

views of many kinfdoms

of Man, Scotland, England,

Wales and Ireland.

Seagulls hover above

the green valleys

and pinelands free

to choose whichever

kingdom is theirs.

*Snaefell rises 2,063 feet above the shore of the Isle of Man

Ayers Point (Isle of Man)

Angry terns on a

stony beach near

Ayers Point on

the Isle of Man

defend their nests

from human intruders

who wish to get a

better look at the

raging sea but

must be satisfied

to stand above

on grassy fields

blown by the wind.

Dover Cliffs (England)

A persistent wind buffets grasses

and heather and fields of reeds

above a dark and rolling sea

where gulls and gannets hover

way above the white cliffs of Dover

just as though old King Lear never

had left the scene up here, still

incensed by his scheming daughters,

feeling so alone above the choppy sea

suffering his madness until this storm

begins to fade away in vapor to the lea.

It is interesting to note that there are two other famous Mount Sneafels on our planet--in Iceland and in Colorado, spelled slightly differently. Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth is based on the one in Iceland.