Heaving and hoeing;
Going to Australia,
Row boys row, tie the man down
as the fair maid of Zennor
parades through the town;
Keel the haul,
onan hag oll
.
Ny wonn vy
What half of that means
nor the other half,
to be honest
as I am –
even though
I have Cornish
in my genes.
.
.
.
Translation:
onan hag oll: one and all (the Cornish motto)
Ny wonn vy: I don’t know
Imbued ,
as I am,
with the sun, the sea,
‘and’ the sand;
I sense a quiet
tranquility
almost within reach.
.
The beach, soft underfoot,
attracts my step,
and from there
I blur
the thin line between
sea and shore –
Soaking up the one,
having momentarily
forsaken the other –
still, I endure.
.
In Bude,
as I am,
upon a summery spring day
I reflect upon the merry
month
of come what May.
.
In Bude,
as I am,
I currently have the time
to stop
and construct
this rhyme.
Bude, when viewed from above,
is better by far
than Padstow viewed from below.
Graeme Sandford 