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