Jill Hopkins

“A shower of wet shingle” rewritten as a sonnet
(Using quotes from “On Dover beach” by Matthew Arnold ) 

The roar of pebbles which the waves draw back
Then grating cold and wet with doubt they fling
the sea of faith upon the stony rack
They drown the optimism to which I cling

I will not sink, the sun will set, and rise
Pub cellars will be flooded by Spring tides.
Exposed, once hidden beaches will surprise
The timeless rhythm of the earth abides.

They say ”It is the way the world goes round,”
Relies on evidence of things not seen
And I believe, though I can be unbound
Or seek to penetrate the veiled screen.
To understand, explore uncovered sand
Faith will carry me over that wasteland.

Jill Hopkins lives in Derbyshire and strums the guitar in a small folk band called “Crows Feet.” Music and rhythm have always been a strong theme in her life. The poem developed out of an affinity with Cornish beaches and a sense of the fragility of the way things work; or don’t.