Godrevy Days by David Oates

David Oates has provided us with a fair numbers of articles and now we include one of his poems which clearly found him in relective mood. 

Godrevy was Camborne by the sea and in my childhood days it seemed as if we lived there – every day seemed fine, every sun-filled moment was filled with joy

Godrevy days,

When perched on push-bike bar

We flowed in happy throng

Through lanes still wet with dew,

Descending to the sea.

Godrevy days,

Freewheeling fast to freedom,

The foundry’s filth and smoke

That forged our weekday chains

Now sets us free

Godrevy days,

The joy of that first glimpse

Of light-house framed in sky,

Of cowslip scent and salt-filled air

A summer day distilled.

Godrevy days,

Of parsley pasty baked that morn

A smell that makes the belly long

For juices rich and rare to spill

Down cheek and chin.

Godrevy days,

Of primus singing songs of joy,

Of tea strong-brewed and brown,

Enamel-cupped, in picnic best

Nectar to our tongues.

Godrevy days,

Of bubbling pot with salty tang,

Of limpets plucked from rocks still wet,

To boil with heavenly scent

Essence of those days.

Godrevy days,

Of sun-burnt backs and sand-rubbed thighs

Of swim-suits, woollen made,

That water-heavy slip in surf

To leave you bare.

Godrevy days,

Of weary legs up Prosper Hill,

Of nodding heads that nestle deep

In shoulders soft with care

A day sent on.

Godrevy days,

Of summer nights awake

With backs that pulse and throb

From heat of noon-day sun.

A pleasant pain.

Godrevy days,

Of drifting dreams that last

Through still and scent filled nights,

Returning joys of gentle days

That touch me still.

David Oates is a Cornish bard who has published a history of Troon, entitled “Echoes of an Age”, a guide to Godrevy and Gwithian, “Walk the hidden ways” and a slim volume of his own verse, “Poems from the far west”. His unpublished work includes a reflection on a Cornish childhood, “What time do they close the gates, Mister?” and a fictionalised story for young people based on the extant life of St Gwinear, with the working title, “The son of a king”. David is working on another guide in the “Walk the hidden ways” series, entitled “Hard Rock country”.

David is a tenor singer with the well-known group, Proper Job based in mid- Cornwall and has collaborated with Portreath musician, Alice Allsworth, to write the lyrics for a number of songs about Cornwall and the Cornish.