I have just finished South and West which was written in the early 1970s by Joan Didion

It is about the authors road trip through the American South

The book has an almost Zen like feeling to it but then again I am a fan of Zen and find it in the most unusual of places

I would like to travel to the American South to see what has changed since South and West

It was a rule of mine to read this book and on the beach nowhere else

Today I finished South and West on Walmer Sands

It was a blustery but not a cold day as I lay on the pebbles close to the wartime winch

I read the last few pages of South and West and thought of the hot days when Jane and I lay on the beach reading our respective books

Maybe it was Jane’s beauty that distracted me but I found difficult to read with any pace as I drowned slowly during the languid summer hours

Even on cooler days when Jane was much covered I found it  just as hard to concentrate

This might have been down to my lazy mind which I believe was the main culprit

As autumn approaches I have noticed the presence of a large grey pebble which has been placed on the winch

From a distance it looks like a grey pigeon looking out to sea

And because of this I have called this poem The Stone Pigeon as it seemed as good as any other

I am about to start Blue Nights which I will read away from the beach as the halcyon days of summer have ended

Jane is wearing a sensible sweater today and its oat hue contrasts with her tan

The colours of summer are fast fading and are being replaced by the greys and browns of the later months

I hate it when the colours fail and feel that I am being pulled down

It is a transient feeling but real nonetheless