Nelly and Nora were sitting on Portland Pier
They were sharing a sarsaparilla and watching the distant parasols
The island was full of visitors as the day was fine
Shall we paddle later as the sea is warm?
I would rather bathe
So would I but there are so many people here
I should like to swim with the strong quarry man from that distant rock
I expect that they would welcome an interruption from a pretty girl
Am I not pretty?
You are far more beautiful that I am
I am rather plain
You referred to yourself as a pretty girl
I like to think that I am rather pretty
Then you are dear Nelly
The men who are swimming from the rocks have been here for centuries
They look quite young to me
Silly I mean their families have quarried the rock for centuries
Would you like to swim with them?
I have not brought a costume
They are not wearing costumes only breeches
Some are naked
You are a wicked girl
You bring me to this pier which has never existed and buy me a sarsaparilla to make me tipsy and then you force me to look at the naked quarry men swimming in the sea
Are you not enjoying the entertainment?
Very much
This area of Portland has never had a fine pier such as this as its geography is too savage
The quarry men however strong would soon succumb to the sea where they are swimming
And if we ourselves bathed from the beach would have to be very careful
Then we should bathe
And what about the day trippers on Chesil Beach would they not be shocked at the sight of two young ladies one beautiful and one plain at play in the waves
You said I am pretty
You are rather plain to be truthful
That hurts
You are plain and I am beautiful
But you are very intelligent and I am a silly girl who says the first thing that comes into her head
I would rather be beautiful not dumpy and plain
Two jet fighters screamed past at high speed
They appeared to be hugging the coastline
Both girls watched them pass
I think that if we made our way towards the quarry men over there that they would find you as beautiful as me
If this pier ever existed at all it would have been damaged beyond repair
A Dutch ship was damaged by a war mine that caused it to drift into the pier during an exceptionally high tide
It cut the pier in half and there was a considerable loss of life
There is a crowd on the beach over there something has attracted their attention
We are both swimming in the waves
It is not proper for young ladies to swim from a public beach you know
The beach is deserted
Good then we may retire from the sea without inhibition
Did you enjoy our swim?
Yes it was exhilarating
Do you realise that we are being watched
I knew our swim would attract attention
No here on the pier that young man
The curate
Yes
He is watching us as we enjoy our sarsaparillas
Have you your ankle exposed
I am wearing shorts of candy stripe red
You are too fat to wear tight shorts you know
I do not care
I always look good in shorts as I have wonderful legs
My legs are as nice as yours
But they are so white and lumpy
Look he is walking towards us
Do you think he will buy us another sarsaparilla?
He is not watching us
He is following the jet planes as they scream through the sky
He is not watching the jet planes
He is watching us emerge from the sea
He has never seen anything as beautiful before
We are his perfect angels
He will drown next year after swimming off of this pier in search of his perfect angels
A trio of jet planes faster than the first were flying at great speed on the horizon
They were strafing an imaginary target
Do you realise that in a hundred years that people will stand on the brow of the stones and look at the island as we are looking at it today
Yes
We will be long gone
Most probably we will be buried in pathetic graves near one of the churches or chapels on the island
Our headstones will made of Portland stone most likely quarried by the sons of the naked swimmers we are watching today
Visitors to the island who have tired of Weymouth will tread in the long grass between the graves and look at the inscriptions on the gravestones
They will find yours and mine and pay little attention to them
Perhaps they might try to imagine what we were like
Are our decedents still living on the island or were they killed in one of the many wars
Was I beautiful and you quite plain?
But what does that matter now
They might say as they look at the sea in search of lost angels
In the years to come you and I will lose our purity on this beach
It will come as no surprise
In a way we will welcome it
The shrill sound of a whistle attracted the girl’s attention and they both watched as a steam engine pulled into the simple village platform
More day trippers I fear let us get dressed as I do not want to upset them
But the fishermen can see us
They will pay us no attention
Why
Because they are used to seeing angels emerging from the sea
The pier had suddenly become crowded and jolly families seated themselves on the deckchairs either side of Nelly and Nora
Children ran freely along the decks of pier whilst others looked at the breaking sea between its wooden boards
Everywhere there was colour and soon the beach became crowded too
I said that we should have retired from our recreation sooner and now we are only hidden by the forgiving sea
Then we shall swim to dusk and let the night cloak our abandon
And if we drown
Then our white bodies will be washed up further down the coast
A lovers tiff they might say
They could not bear to be apart
So they drowned themselves instead
But this theory does not hold water as our lungs might
Why would such a beautiful girl forsake her life for such a plain and dumpy girl?
You said I was pretty
After a few days in the sea all beauty is sacrificed
But there would be traces of mine left
Beauty is never fully destroyed
As they struggled in the sea five of the quarry men swan towards the girls and took them in their arms
You see we did not drown
We are destined to die in our dull beds with a single candle illuminating our room
The girls are thrown roughly onto the rocks and the sea is expelled from their sodden lungs
They ripped open my blouse and pounded my chest
I was given up for dead until an apprentice placed his fingers in my throat and caused me to vomit a mass of seaweed
The quarry men just stared at me as I lay drowned on the rocks
They had not adjusted my modesty
I was liked a beached fish
And then the foreman supposed that I was far too beautiful to have died
So he selected the fairest of the quarry men to kiss me on the lips
The last train of the day was leaving the tiny station in the village square
Nelly and Nora were sitting in the first carriage nearest to the engine
Both were dozing assisted by the motion of the gentle train
What a fun day we had
I am in love with Tabutha Lynch
Pray tell me who is Tabutha Lynch?
The quarry man who saved me from drowning
He has knowledge of my person that few share
I have knowledge of your person as you have knowledge of mine
But you are not a man
Nelly and Nora were sitting on Portland Pier
Do you realise that this pier if it ever existed at all will be destroyed twice before the new century is out
Once by a doomed ship and then once again in a storm on the last day of the century
There are billions of pebbles on this enormous beach
As many pebbles as there are stars
Young men often caress these smooth pebbles as part of their education
Before they are wed
Even Tabutha Lynch started his education on this very beach
These are Nelly’s eyes so modest and pure
These are her shoulders so smooth and low
This is her calf and this is her thigh
This is her love for you and I
Do not tease me
I am not teasing you
This branch was scrapped years ago and a strong road was built to serve the island
Where once the beach was full of fishing boats it is now frequented by pleasure seekers
But we had the pier
Portland Pier
There was never a pier at Portland
The geography is wrong
And the pebbles
The pebbles have always been here
There are billions of pebbles on this enormous beach
As many pebbles as there are stars
Each star that you see in the night sky is soul of a person departed
Many are invisible to the naked eye but they are there
Where is the railway?
Long gone
Replaced by a road
The station site is lost in the village square
Grand buildings frequent the area now
The inn is much older still serves ale and beer
I often listen to its foundations sing
As I touch Tabutha’s engagement ring
You will sadly die an old maid
You beauty spent
No longer will suitable men from the large cities visit your modest house
Only your cats will welcome your company in your final years
I will most likely die fat and happy on this very beach and will be found by my strapping sons
Who will bury me next to Tabutha in the church distant from the village but with magnificent sea views
It will be a happy occasion
No tears will be spent
You will witness my cortege from your rigid window
But you will not know who I am
For your mind will be spent
I was once your best friend
We did everything together
But all you will see is decay
Nelly and Nora were sitting on Portland Pier
They were sharing a sarsaparilla and watching the distant parasols
The island was full on visitors as the day was fine
On the rocks out of view a man savage to ordinary tastes was watching jet planes scream across the sky
They were alien to his world but fascinated him although he knew that they would bring his destruction
On the pier he could see two modest girls with their ankles exposed
He had seen them swimming
But preferred their modesty
I prefer what is hidden
He said to the jet pilot flying overhead
Be careful of the angels
Do not spend their lives
I am the keeper of the pebbles many
Not one will leave this beach on my watch
Only the sea will claim them
Let us return our glasses to pier bar
We are most refreshed
Let us stroll like sisters on the promenade
Some might think that we are secret lovers
But we know more
Let us exit this phantasy pier
And wait for the afternoon train to arrive
We will not travel to Weymouth today
Nor will we visit the town tomorrow
For our situation is here
As it always has been
We are the maidens of this gentle rock
We are the maidens of this fabled beach
We are the maidens both corrupted and pure
Who live by the sea their lives obscure
2018