Purbeck Walk Poem by Andrew Cuthbert

A day of such translucent calm
It was almost eerie.
The December sun unfeasibly hot
And suspended over field and dry-stone wall
A deep eiderdown of stillness.

I sat looking at the sea
So flat, unruffled, that the cliffs
Were mirrored on its surface.
Straining for sounds,
I caught the distant, faint metallic chink
Of birdsong,
Then total silence;
Broken suddenly by the raucous dive-bombing
Of a single bluebottle.

On the way back,
Sharing civilities with a passing dog walker,
I remarked on the stillness.
'As if something awful's going to happen',

Tsunami, earthquake, deluge,
Cancer, violent death
Hovered over us
While her young labrador sniffed my trouser-leg.

I strolled on, half-holding my breath,
Against disaster,
Until I reached my own front door
And the noisy safety of home.