We’re just back from a couple of days on Bangladesh’s number one local tourist destination; Cox Bazaar. This beach is apparently the longest beach in the world, and a place where people can escape the city and experience some beach life. For us, it was a very different type of beach life, with most people standing or walking on the beach and those few who brave the waves do so fully dressed. It is a unique place, and I find, best appreciated if you see it as a child growing up in Dhaka might see it….

Cox Bazaar

See it through the eyes of a child if you can;

a child raised in big city apartment cage

An apartment lately filled with beach anticipation

This beach, reached by crowded nighttime bus

A bus where you sleep, upright, clutching your bag

To see when you arrive, sore and grouchy from the drive

To see, to see at last, strange and vast

The sea

See it through the eyes of a child if you can;

A child soaked in rules of culture, faith, society,

All society on holiday, transformed on naked beach

On sandy beach, mother’s hair across her face

In bright cotton sari, laughing, submersing in waves

To see as you watch, half thrilled, half shocked,

To see, to see at last, strange and vast

The sea

See it through the eyes of a child if you can;

A child photographed in waves, small and wet

All wet from splashes, laughter, sweat

Shocked by power of roaring, slapping waves

Waves and wind unregulated, wild

To feel, pulled and wrenched, half scared, all drenched

To feel, to feel at last, strong and vast

The sea