I was fortunate this week to be joined on a walk from Ainsdale Discovery Centre by Fiona Sunners, the Gems in the Dunes Project Manager. Her breadth of knowledge about the dune system and its flora and fauna was breathtaking. I learned so much from her and she left me even more in awe of this extraordinary place!
The July sky is alive
with the sound of bees
looping through spikes
of rosebay willow herb.
Shocking pink, they’ll rock up
anywhere disturbed, unstable.
Unashamed they spiral, brazen
in your face
bringing banks of solid summer
to this loosened coast.
Silent, in the narrow paths
the graylings flick
and twist in strings. They flash
their flawless codes
then settle shut like little books.
Still and secret in the shadows
armoured creatures do their work
of living. They survive
the salty winds, defy
the robber flies, utilising
webs and wings
and sand. Deep
where throbs of sound
are dampened, underneath
our feet, beyond
our understanding, all the hopes
of solitary bees, of beetles,
of maternal lizards wait
among the swathing
shingle grains
and trust to be delivered
into our northern dunes.
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