True Isolation (Poetry)

I have an isle within myself
a place where none may go
of windy headlands salted sharp and free
and quiet coves with purple rocks
to wander there among
and not a soul around to bother me

except for white high-flying gulls
who swoop and climb and hang
and seals who ride and roll the playful surf
no boat on the horizon
not a funnel nor a sail
for me it is the safest place on earth.

I’ve conjured my own sanctuary
and mapped it in my mind
right down to every pebble on the beach
and when this world gets mean and mad
and life’s depressing me
I go there — out of everybody’s reach.

I walk along its unspoilt cliffs
hear music in the waves
the sea soothes all my fears — absorbs my pain
I stay a while — recuperate
until my thoughts are strong
enough to face the troubled world again.