Those with a good memory might remember a few years ago a chap called John Rayment took on the challenge of a round the coast of the UK sponsored walk.
During his challenge John popped over to the Isle of Wight to ensure he included some of the Island’s coastline in his journey.
He’d taken on the challenge to raise money and awareness for charities that help those with Parkinsons and his walk started (1st August 2012) and ended at Tilbury, Essex.
Coast Lines – poetry and photos
John has now produced a book of poems and photos from the challenge, some of which were inspired by his time on the Island.
John says,
“Readers are encouraged to join in the decision making and share the emotions – indeed, you
may be inspired to do the walk yourself? But first enjoy the entertaining read.
“The poems below illustrate the rarity of the content in ‘Coast Lines’, but the clincher is colour photographs taken at the time which inform and involve the reader throughout ie. on almost every page unlike the common approach of a few, often black and white, photos grouped together at a place convenient to the printer, but awful for the reader.”
Poems
Below are a sample of some of the Isle of Wight-inspired poems from John’s 6,000 mile challenge.
UNHELPFUL SIGNS (main pic)
Signs like this just make me hoot
Why closed? What dates?
Alternate route?
Would a fit walker be safe to go?
Or serious danger and ‘No Means No’?
GREEN AND WET
Enjoying the sun on an easy day allowed my mind to wander
Bang! At the bottom of this ramp I had something to ponder
Rubbing my elbow and backside, face pained with regret
I hadn’t learnt to never walk on a surface green and wet
To get over my aches and pains, not wallow in self pity
I took my usual exit route of making up a dittyWhen I see weed I see seaweed
It makes me shake with fear
I scream and scream
I scream… ice-cream
Now that’s a good idea!
Coast Lines
Coast Lines is an autobiographical saga, in verse and illustrated with hundreds of colour photos taken by the author, who donates all his royalties to Parkinson’s research.
Coast Lines is published by Austin Macaulay. £19.99 hardback; £14.99 paperback; £3.50 ebook
