Bells
She wanted to tell them
about the autumn shore
with the white sun over the leaning boats
in the shallow bay,
where oystercatchers poke and prod
and dotterel run along wet sand
tracing fine chains to the sea.
She wanted to tell them
how they cranked up the Austin
and clattered off on their honeymoon,
trailing strings of tin cans and
‘Just Married’ fixed to the back.
How they trundled out of London
through the sunken lanes of Suffolk
to the guest house
and the motherly proprietress
stout as a bow-legged gull.
She wants to tell them,
when they say it will be easier for her
if he goes into a home,
about that first day they were married
walking on Dunwich shore,
the tide out
the patterns of sandbars
salt wind in her hair.
And how they heard them,
unmistakable, the sound of bells
ringing from the lost church
deep under the sea.
Caroline Smith lives and works in Wembley. She studied sculpture at Goldsmiths College, London University. Her poetry book, ‘The Immigration Handbook’, published by Seren, was shortlisted for the 2016 Ted Hughes Award. It was translated into Italian in 2020. This year Smith was long listed for the National Poetry Competition.