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Mayl 2022 May 2022

any state openings after the death of Prince Albert, Queen Elizabeth has only Kimmeridge Ledges
missed two State Openings of Parliament, in 1959 and 1963 when she was
pregnant. This is of course a very special year for the Queen, with her Jubilee Up on the cliff top, it stands to survey
celebrations coming up in June and I know that if at all possible she will want to the patterns of light and the mood of the bay,
give the speech this year. the tower scans seawards to witness the gale
Please do get in touch if you need help and support, including if you have family as the incoming tide spills over the shale.
or friends fleeing Ukraine. I am continuing to have surgeries In the tangles of flotsam, scarce ichthyosaur bones
across the constituency. You can contact me via email lie hidden in seaweed amongst the grey stones
michael.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk or call my office on and layered rock ledges, once ammonite graves,
01202 624216. defiantly battle the wind driven waves.

In unending conflict, between sea and the land,
the battle advances to where the cliffs stand;
LOCAL MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT rain swollen rivulets which cut through the clay,

loosen old sediments then wash them away.
Michael Tomlinson MP  Stratified rocks that have slipped from their bed,
Michael.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk
holds regular surgeries leave petrified imprints of creatures long dead;
in the constituency. For  01202 624216 the shattered stone blocks lie heaped at its base
details of forthcoming  www.michaeltomlinson.org.uk after weather and seas have scoured the cliff face.
surgeries or to make an
appointment, please @Michael4MDNP The pitted rock platforms, each fissured with cracks,
contact his office. resist the sea's onslaught before the gale backs;

but the conflict will slacken, with battle adjourned,
in a temporary truce, now the tide's turned.
Wild waters retreat on the outgoing tide,
leaving clear rock pools where small creatures hide;
mollusc and crustacean emerge soon to feed
in the peaceful pool waters and curtains of weed.

Up on the cliff top, above the shale ledge,
the tower stands close to the crumbling cliff edge.
How long will it witness the conflict each day,
the patterns of light and the moods of the bay?
How long will it stand, so upright and tall,
before it collapses in a sudden cliff fall?
How long till the tower's own structure of stones
839209 lies weathered and broken with ichthyosaur bones?
Chris Nother

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