Assignation Poem by cahen thrips

the sea wall is not a comfortable place to sit
but there we linger beside the sluice which
carries signs warning us not to swim and
we hold hands as if we're teenagers again
tentative a little shy not quite blushing but
a fresh breeze brings colour to your cheeks
plucks at wheaten hair turned the same grey
as skies so we both blend with landscapes
in hopes of not being seen by those we know
though people rarely walk here anymore as
we are all too old and my lips which wish to
kiss you are salt-sere so instead we just sit
here in each other's company listening to
ascensions of a hundred larks until from behind
us a dog barks and you release my hand again
to slide gently away from the strand with neither
ripple nor plash so invisibly silent you leave
no trace - it is as if you were never here at all
and were in fact nothing but a memory from
fonder days.

march 2023