As shingle slides upon the shore
this gentle summer night, we stroll,
the great bear pointing to the pole
as if to prove what stars are for.
A far light winks once then is gone
as shingle slides upon the shore;
impermanence we know is law
and, hand in hand, we wander on
bemused by moonlight on the sea
and troubled by a distant war;
as shingle slides upon the shore
I turn to you and you to me
and though, above, the jet-planes roar,
the universe has come to be
a moon that's mirrored in the sea
as shingle slides upon the shore.