Sandcastles

some days i long to take
a bucket and spade to
Bembridge beach to build
castles with my brother
in dampened sand

magnificent with turrets
crenellated walls, tall towers
always with a drawbridge
surrounded by a deep moat

when the only company was
an odd wasp or two competing
for jam in our sandwiches
or the sun's rays freckling
my fair skin, burning my
exposed shoulders

i didn't mind the creep
of the incoming tide as we
watched it send fingers of foam
closer and closer

until eventually our
masterpieces of medieval fantasy
collapsed into a sunken mess
under swirling salty water
forever gone

Reviews

[Stella Armour]

How lucky you were to have siblings Chris, i was very bored when i was young and quickly had to learn to amuse myself.
In the long run i think it gave me an inner strength but i would have so loved to have siblings to share my life.
Love the imagery of your sandcastles and the tide coming in to claim them, memories to last a lifetime..

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Stella. I was very fortunate having siblings and parents who understood how those bonds later on in life with siblings grow from strength to strength. Have a lovely weekend my friend.

Chris

[Rachel Fitzgerald-Feele..]

A nice nostalgic piece Chris.
I especially liked the wording 'fingers of foam' :)
Well done

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Rachel. I appreciate your thoughts.

Chris

[Pete]

strikes a tidal note - daytrips with me, older brother, mom and dad. mom and dad met at the beach and would still go in elder years just to walk around and see the beach and ocean. always followed by a fried fish dinner. this flowed nicely until swept away. thank god memories remain.

[Chris Shaw]

Yes, thank God for memories Pete. They keep us going when others are gone. Thank you my friend for your valued thoughts.

Chris

[Soren]

Such memories of building such castles with my children on the beaches of Florida. This poem was wonderfully cast in images that tickled my mind and left it smiling.

[Chris Shaw]

I loved hearing about your own memories of building sandcastles with your own children Soren. Such precious time spent. Many thanks for stopping by.

Chris

[Neville]

the older I get the more aware I am of the impermanence of all and everything I have ever loved .. even my memories appear to be failing me .. so maybe that's why I felt the warmth of your words .. because there is such a genuine familiarity to them .. and because I too would give anything for another chance to play sandcastles with my young brother .. Neville

[Chris Shaw]

What a beautiful review Neville. I too would do anything to build sandcastles on the beach again with my brother. Yes, impermanence. We lose those we love and nothing can replace them. We instead have our memories which can also become diluted with the passing of time. Thank you my friend for a very welcome visit. My inner child was activated when I wrote this. She is never far away.

Chris

[Neville]

You wont believe just how good that is to hear Chris :)

Neville

[Thomas W Case]

You paint a vivid sharp picture. Beautiful imagery.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much Thomas for appreciating my sandcastle efforts. The inner child does like to come out to play.

Chris

[Ken Simm.]

Oh jam and sand sandwiches. Oh the memories in this one. Beautifully portrayed.

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks Ken. The wasps always won:) I appreciate you. Have a good week.

Chris

[Ken Simm.]

You should try the midges up here. Only the females though. The males are all bearded folk music loving arran sweater wearing vegans.

[Chris Shaw]

Ha ha. The males seem fine to me Ken. Thanks for the smile:)

[Lorry]

This reminds me of younger me snd the hours under the sun's heat, concentrating on all the little details, like flags and seashells, because everyone knows real castles have seashells on them.
More innocent times indeed, as we thought little of all those flags on toothpicks floating away into the sea or the kitchen foil sandwich wrappers we used so we didn't have to run to the sea every few minutes to top up the moat with sea water.
We just thought it best to leave it in place for others to enjoy instead of stsmping it to oblivion each day.
I still remember my sisters shock the next time we went and our sandcastle wasn't there! (She was young) ...and daft! 😀
Back then I remember the pain of sunburn as we peeled that night, when the world thought suncream lasted all day yo project us...it didn't, as we turned into chimps peeling each other later that day.
Ahh, the innocence of youth! 😀

[Chris Shaw]

You have just brought me more memories back Lorry. Of course, we had to have seashells and flags for our works of art. You know I always hoped the sandcastle was going to be there the next day. Talk about optimistic:) Just been reminded about sunburn. Red shoulders and back and good old calomine lotion. Smothered in it I was:) Thank you for your added value. Have a great Monday.

Chris

[Amanda Reynolds]

To build for the joy of it, knowing that it will soon be destroyed... This is our lives and everything in it, we know one day that it will all be gone but we do it anyway- because if we do not it will still end but without the the castles of joy in between. Thank you so much for sharing this!

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Amanda for your visit and sharing your thoughts. I appreciate the words you left here for me. All the best.

Chris

[Fran Marie]

you paint a priceless
picture here Chris

sandcastles in
the sun sharing with
your siblings good
times and laughter

precious memories
to be sure; ones that
can't be washed away

nicely penned piece

[Chris Shaw]

Msny thanks Fran Marie for your lovely review. A happy memory for me.

Chris

[Crosby Idasa]

Excellent.... Every line was dressed well, every day is not the same so some days I long to take everything

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Crosby. I really appreciate your visit. Many thanks for the read.

Chris