The Bluff

The Bluff stands tall ;
Rising like an ancient warrior
From fertile coastal plains.
Proud and sturdy
Against the tumultuous sea.

The stoic Bluff;
Bearer of unrelenting lashings
And vicious attacks
From angry waters churning below
Striking hard against unyielding granite footings.

The south wind thrusts
Its merciless breath
Tousling squat grasses
And wild geraniums
That tremble with the scraping gale.

Summit yearnings
Require fortitude
But jubilation awaits the brave
And unsurpassed seascapes
transfix initially reluctant ramblers.

Encounter Bay curves gently, east
A sandy beach hugs the coastline,
Like lemon frosting on a delectable cake;
The white teeth of broken waves
bite hungrily into the shoreline.

With disciplined eyes
One can trace the edge of the world
Until far-flung sea mists
Blur the horizon
Blending land, sea and sky, into one.

There is nothing south of The Bluff
But a million miles of sea
and eventually ice.
The Bluff is enduring.
The Bluff stands tall.

© Strauss
14th April 2007

Vapour maiden

To the tilting sway of ocean lullabies,
He stood aloft his creaking vessel.
Immersed in maritime harmonies,
And the rhythm of cresting waves,
He was hushed, like a babe in tender arms.

He waited for her at the bow;
Patient like a returning soldier's lover.
His eyes scoured the heavens
and panned the entirety of a lavender horizon,
until she revealed her form.

Light reflections
and atmospheric mood
determine her appearance;
But today,
Under endless skies, she wore white.

A mass of rumpled petticoats
spill from under her skirts.
They billow with the memory of sweet promises;
revealing themselves as silver threads
embroidered into the hem.

A crown of sunbeams strain through soft tresses;
cirrus wisps trailing behind her.
But with eyes cast down,
She appeared despondent,
For a vapour maiden's life is fleeting.

He gazed upon his illusive vision
until her windswept fate over came her;
smearing her luminous features,
and swallowing her subtle radiance
And gentle form.

Her vanishing breaks the spell cast over him.
Their brief interlude is like a window to her world;
A world where the sea meets the sky at the horizon
And should he choose to follow her,
A vapour maiden who will lead him safely home.