Clint Wastling’s poetry has been published in Orbis, Blue Nib, Dream Catcher, Strix and Marble. Clint has a collection – Layers published by Maytree Press. His novel, The Geology of Desire, is an LGBTQ thriller set around Whitby in the 1980’s and Hull during World War II. He also has a sci-fi novel: Tyrants Rex set 3000 years in the future, both published by Stairwell Books.
A bay is a bay and beach a beach
until you’ve seen Paulilles.
Here on the Côte Vermillon
beauty is surprising
given its history
as a factory site
sheltered between the mountains.
Alfred Nobel made
dynamite from nitroglycerine here.
The chemical name was never mentioned.
This liquid maimed and murdered workers.
It made their hearts race
to a premature death.
Once production stopped,
Nobel’s gardens were restored.
The sea became a marine park.
Now we can snorkel on reefs rich with life,
or swim to the platform
like a latter-day Grant and Kelly.
Nitroglycerine under the tongue
kept Nobel alive a few more months.
Here we lie on the edge of
the Mediterranean Sea,
inheritors of the past
with this transformation.
For other contributions by Clint Wastling, please follow the link below:
Poetry in this post: © Clint Wastling
Published with the permission of Clint Wastling