Kerenza on Sand-Dunes

D. M. Thomas

Hovering on that consummate shell
Washed from the sea, I hear it say
'This is the true, the holy well,
Crystal and incorruptible.'
The sand has blown the wind away.

'Brush the grains as delicately
From this dark-clear parable,
Creases of a trustful smile,
As from the buried hermit's cell.'
The sand has blown the wind away.

All day there rings a warning-bell,
Or marriage-bell under the sea.
Under the white and trickling hill
We learn each other speechlessly.
The sand has blown the wind away.

Our coupled footprints crumble and fill
All down the lee side of this wall
Against the chill expedient sea;
And we shall never break the spell.
The sand has blown the wind away.