Estuary
Ode to Arthur and Jan in Liverpool
Estuary
There is peace this afternoon
in the Estuary,
The warmth of Autumn
rests upon the wall.
Shipping is light today,
reflecting perhaps
a day of rest;
the gleaming white
hull and lines
of the Isle of Man Ferry
approaching Pier Head.
Engines reverse thrust,
Turning on a coin,
On jetty perfectly aligning,
Ropes thrown aft and fore,
dock crew nimbly
securing moorings.
Yes.
It is good to write poetry
and to write
upon the moment's spur.
Do not wait for inspiration.
Do not engineer events.
Allow creativity
to announce its arrival.
See its heart and soul
alight the page,
As the ink touches paper,
Or tips glance dance-like
across the keys.
Adieu, my friends, awhile.
Work to do,
in this pleasant evening hour.
Kenneth Thomas Webb
Liverpool
12 August 2024
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Author Note 2024
Arthur, how good to come across this just past the Midnight Watch, and to bring it forth to this new day.
Ken
ƒinis
Author Note (2021)
The Banner Image, taken by my niece SLT, is a view of the Cornish Coastline prompting these lines the same day as I gazed out across the Mersey Estuary over the Irish Sea, catching the same skies from up here in Liverpool as down there in Cornwall.
Image sole rights reserved to my niece.
As with much of my poetry, Estuary falls within the definition of ‘Ode’ : a lyric poem, typically one in the form of an address to a particular subject, written in varied or irregular metre. I mention this because poetry does not have to be merely the type we learned at primary or infant school.
**
Arthur, I wrote this a long, long while back, the skies will have been seen by you and Jan before she briefly slipped beyond the veil. Greetings to you and Jan, and to all our friends in this wonderful city. I (K)
Last published 6 April 2021
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
