VILLANELLE: LOOKING WESTWARD FROM A DISTANT SHORE

 I have tried to find another island like you,
but such remote and satisfying solitude is rare:
windswept timeless rock in blue

 bright ocean. I had assumed that the U.
K. would be made up of nothing but islands, where
I could try (and have tried) to find another island like you –

 Outer Hebrides, Scillies, Channel – I’m through
seeking, searching, turning my face to compass points everywhere
for a windswept timeless rock in blue

 water. It isn’t to be found. True,
there are islands to be seen, enjoyed, here and there,
but not another island like you

 not one with a beating heart, a soul, a priceless view
of endless glittering waves and salty air,
a windswept timeless rock in blue…

 Perhaps I’m spoiled, or prejudiced, but I think I knew,
when last I left you, that I’d be hard-pressed to care
for any another island but you,
my windswept timeless rock in blue.

 Lawrence Wilson