I sat at the edge of the sea today,
And watched the constrained stillness,
I wondered where it came from,
Wondered what the agent of calm was.

The surface seemed as vacuum-packed,
Glutinously reflecting a lazy sun,
And those on the beach, whispering only,
The sea and spectators were one.

On the horizon a ruffle, the tiniest bustle,
Ripples and waves splitting the sheen,
And the image of sun, once solid and true,
Was split into thousands of fragments of gleam.

The worried line moved, it was heading our way,
As inch-by-inch over the stillness it won,
Then a gust of wind, ruffled my hair,
As the final last bastion of flatness was gone.

The temperature changed, people pulled on their coats,
And headed off back to their days,
A celestial pause button switched and released,
Beneath our surprised collective gaze.