"Black Coat" By Ted Hughes

"I remember going out there ,
The tide far out, the North shore ice-wind
Cutting me back
To the quick of the blood - that outer edge nostalgia,
The good feeling. My sole memory
Of my black overcoat. Padding the wet sandspit.
I was staring at the sea, I suppose.
Trying to feel thoroughly alone,
Simply myself, with sharp edges -
Me and the sea one big tabula rasa,
As if my returning footprints
Out of the scrim of gleam, that horizon-wide wipe,
Might be a whole new start.

My shoe-sole shapes
My only sign.
My minimal but satisfying discussion with the sea.
Putting my remarks down, for the thin tongue
Of the sea to interpret. Inaudibly.
A therapy,
Instructions too complicated for me
At the moment, but stowed for my black box for later."


The first part of my favourite Ted Hughes poem from the "Birthday Letters" collection.