Curlews

Curlews call
Along the estuary
Late light falls
Under a mile to the sea

And the flickering harbour lights
Trail in the estuary waters tonight
Under meteors
Over the bridge
The old town still clinging on
At the end of the ridge

All but lost to me now

Nightfall
The water's ebbing away now
Flat sand
Grows with the speed of the tide
Cold now
I watch the curlews and lapwings
Dig down
To see just what they can find

In the glittering
Estuary mud
Trailing their footprints
Before the flood
Comes around again
And washes away

All but every fragment
What light remains

All but lost to me now
All but lost to me now