You are paddling in the sea in your indigo bikini

An Ibex throws a multi-coloured beach ball towards you

It sails over your head and lands in the sea

You ignore the spray and look at the planets in the wise sky

In time they will be aligned

The Ibex retrieves the beach ball and again throws in your direction

It sails over your head once more but does not land in the sea

Instead it floats upwards towards the planets

It has an ambition to become a great planet

I hear a song faintly at first from behind the beach tents

Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies

Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain

I turn and see an ice cream vendor pushing his trolley through the fine sand with great difficulty

He stops next to a nursing mother and given each of her seven children an ice cream

One walks towards me and gives me his confectionary

I accept with a smile and tell the child that I approve of his mathematics

The baby leaves its mothers breast and looks at the sky

It is looking at something that no-one else can see

The ice cream vendor approaches me

I prefer to see her in a white bikini

Who?

Margate Sands I prefer to see Margate Sands in a white bikini I am not fond of Indigo    

I do not reply and the vendor leaves after I assure him that I will bury my newspaper in the sand

A girl with a complexion as dark as the vendors sits next to me she is crying

Il papa e morto

I console her and give her my indigo handkerchief

She wipes away her tears and looks at the sky

Il papa e morto

Abbiamo un nuovo papa

Come si chiama?

Egli e chiamato San Francesco

Grazie

The girl kisses me lightly on the cheek and leaves handing my handkerchief to a passing seagull who is also in a state of shock

I watch my wife speak briefly to the girl with the dark complexion they hug and my wife points towards the sky

Only the baby can see the movement of the planets

What is your name sir?

My name is Soft Time

Is that your wife in the indigo bikini?

Yes her name is Margate Sands

Why is she crouching in the sea?

I fear that she is looking for the missing beach ball

I know of its location

So do I

It is with the planets far away

I am speaking to a maid from a nearby hotel she has a perfect smile but asks me to carve the likeness of a camel on to one of her teeth

I reply that I would spoil her smile and pick up a faded donkey’s tooth half hidden in the sand

I ask that I may carve the likeness on to the equine tooth

The maid notes that she has only three toes and her perfect smile has always been an irritation

Why I ask

She shows me her deformed foot

I tell her it is as beautiful as her smile

The maid is silent for a while and watches as my wife swims in the azure sea

She smiles and explains that whilst the equine tooth would be gratefully received she might during her long life lose my carving

She adds that if the carving was hidden within her person they it would always remain safe and in time share her grave

I agree and take a pen-knife from pocket and begin to carve the likeness of a camel as desired

My wife returns from the sea which has drained all the colour from her bikini

The fabric is now totally white

I complement her on her choice of colour and she replies with irritation that whilst both colours suit her she is annoyed with the sea as it has stolen the indigo

The sea is fickle in its choices

Later we both paddle in the shallows it is late afternoon

The mother baby and the children are gone I can see the baby staring into the sky from its  nursery window

An urchin on crutches approaches us both and requests alms

My wife explains that she is nearly naked and carries no alms

I give the urchin a silver coin which she throws into the sea

I question her action and request her name

My name is Andy Miller

But you are a woman under your rags

Andy is a shortened version of Andrea your wife knows that as she has created me

Explain your accusation

I am a creation of Margate Sands your wife imagines me today she imagines me in rags with only one leg

The woman lifts her skirt and shows me her bloody stump

I ask my wife why this cruelty exists

She is deserving of chaos

I do not exist how may I be deserving of chaos?

My wife takes the woman in rags into the deeper sea and both vanishi under the surface for a moment

When they emerge they are identical in every feature

I cannot identify my wife

This is a game of the planets you think you are looking at two identical women but there is only one there is confusion in your eyes 

I am confused

Then close your eyes

I close my eyes and when my sight returns my wife is at my side in her indigo bikini

You were angry with the sea so the planets tormented me why should that happen?

Andrea Miller only exists in my head you should never have met her

I am angry with the sea but also with the planets so they punished me by punsishing you 

Are you cleansed?

I am cleaned and am sorry you will not meet Andrea Miller again

As the seventeenth hour of the day commenced the tide begins to fall vast expanses of damp sand were exposed

We began to walk away from the town chasing the tide

No-one followed us

We were alone

I have calculated a mile but the tide is still not near

The day begins to die and my wife begins to chill

I remove my cotton shirt and wrap it around her shoulders

There is a darkness on the horizon and slowly the day fades

We sit on the wet sand and look at the splendour of the planets

So does the baby from its gentle crib

The planets are moving and the new child smiles quietly away from its siblings

The master planet drops low almost to sea level it covers our view and we are bathed in its light

As it fades secondary planets come into view

They are reflected in the many pools

The tide is returning and soon we are floating on the surface of the sea like drowned mariners from a stricken ship

We watch the movement of the planets in awe

The baby secretly stands in its crib and records its memories for later years

Its mother sleeps

Its siblings sleep

Their house is quiet but is bathed in the light of the planets

The ice cream vendor also sleeps but has his back turned away from the splendour

The girl with the dark complexion sleeps with a photo of the new Pope covering her breasts

I fedeli di vedra tutto

She replies to herself as she dreams

The baby passes her window and flies towards the sea and within the hour is in the arms of Margate Sands

We are standing in the shallows and standing still

My wife holds the baby who is staring at the planets

Its eyes widen in approval at the spectacular

Soon the baby leaves us and flies back to its crib

Its mother still sleeps

The house is quiet but darker now

The planets are beginning to fade

Morning is near

My wife and I return to the beach and await the day

We do not tire

I ask her of Andrea Miller

She will not return I am told

The planets only punish once

They are often benign

The sun soon bathes the day

My wife plays in the sea with an ibex and they throw a brightly coloured beach ball to each other

The girl with the dark complexion walks hand in in hand with the new Pope as they chatter and smile

The maid is working in a nearby hotel and is talking to her guests

They all compliment her on her wonderful smile

In the distance beyond the sea I note a train of camels crossing the dunes with their cargos aloft

Their master beckons that I join them

I do not leave a message for my wife for I know that I will return before her