Morecambe Bay February 2004

Nobody knows when tidal waves
will come or leave, they say.
So keep away from the beach at night,
down on Cockleshell Bay.

When strangers came and saw the shells
and saw the seaweed sway,
they sent their gangs to dig the sands
down on Cockleshell Bay.

Strong winds roared, and heavy rain
had fallen all that day,
‘til evening came and darkness fell
down on Cockleshell Bay.

Who knows what thoughts ran through their minds
as the sea shone silver and grey,
and flooded across the sandy plain
down on Cockleshell Bay.

Their anguished cries rose to the sky
as they tried to run away.
But the floodtide covered them all too soon
down on Cockleshell Bay.

The nineteen swollen bodies
bring fear to those who stay
to lift them up from out of the tide,
down on Cockleshell Bay.