The Beach

I have mentioned that my father gassed himself in his car (a red renault 5) whilst parked on a beach in the middle of the night.

Whilst surfing the Web last night I found two images of the beach itself. Curiously, in one of them there appears to be a solitary figure standing there, the ghost of my Dad waiting for me to build a road back to Oldton perhaps - or is that my over-active imagination at work again. (Yes, Tim, it is).

Comments

[ann write]

Tim have you forgotten the kittewake? It appeared as if from nowhere as we scattered your Dad's ashes on the sea as he requested; the bird's haunting call as it wheeled down to look at the two wreaths of of blue irises and yellow roses bobbing the waves receding into the distance. It was you who first saw the bird as it followed the boat back to harbour and we watched as it turn upwards and away into the distance calling as it went. The harbour from which you father went sailing in a Dragon nearly every weekend of the last year of his life. That harbour is one of the few nesting sites of kittewakes - perhaps that is where you will find him at peace. Not alone in the dark world of nightjars.

[paul conneally]

now reading this i find ren find connection between myself yourself your dad and anne through the kittiwake

i was asked to be master poet at BALTIC for a renga organised by alec finlay who was artist in residence there at the time - as 'master' or 'sabaki' i had to come up with an appropriate 'hokku' (first stanza)for our renga and as i ate my bacon stottie sat at a table outside a cafe right under the Tyne Bridge i found myself transfixed by seagulls that were nesting on the bridge - the cafe owner told me that they were in fact kittiwakes that despite the counculs attempts to stop them made their homes and raised their young on the bridge - a place that some humans decide to end their lives from at times - i felt a deep attraction to those kittiwakes - and when ever i return to Tyneside i look for them - they used to nest on the BALTIC itself but now they have been 'put off' by various means - an artificial nesting structure has been put up for them but they prefer the bridge and all efforts by the council to get rid of them thanfully have failed - failed to the extent that after spending many thousands of pounds to get rid of them the council have now decided to let them stay - they are for me part of what newcastle is - and they featured in the hokku that started that renku - maybe part of your dad and so you too is now there in newcastle carried in the the internal code that makes kittiwakes kittywakes:

summer hats
kittwakes rise then settle
on the tyne bridge

paul