5. Apr, 2022

'Statues In the Sea'

On Crosby beach, a crowd has gathered.

Figures stand in sand and sea,

Facing one way, where the outlook is mostly grey.

It’s a lost child’s nightmare,

Where nobody is real, the crowd a mirage,

Each statue identical, a blind iron image

Of a single man, the sculptor.

And yet at first sight, the eye and mind translate

These static beings

Into men, woman and children on the beach,

Perspective and distance making them both

Large and small, fragile even.

They have a haunting collective solitude,

A touching humanity.

Surreal and yearning,

They are anchored in that place

And yet adrift,

As if aware there is no reason for them

Even to exist.

Ruth Enright