Phil Bartlett
Cockles

If I leave the window open at night,
The sea sings a lullaby, soothing and slow
As it waters the sands in the silvery light,
Feeding marine life embedded below.
Under the moon, the estuary glistens
And flittering fishes skitter beneath,
Where shrimps and prawns, cherished crustaceans
Scamper and crawl on the sea-flooded beach.
And spurting squirts from under the sand
Reveal the presence of cardiidae,
A harvest for boats and machines from the land
Which dig and suck, and riddle and rake
Heart-shaped and chubby, bivalvic molluscs
Beloved as cockles, by the sailors on shore
And the lads in the "Billet" cry out for more.