Round the Islands off Lismore

The ocean lay like crystal here, the afternoon so very still
That, as we pulled out from the shore, the shingle seemed to fall downhill,
And sea anemones in dancing clusters dropped away below,
Along with brightly coloured pebbles, falling soundless, just as though
There wasn’t water here at all, our dinghy floating through the light,
And as we watched the world below us sank in valleys built of night.