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The Tide and I


In, out, up, back, advance, retreat
Immutable, inexorable, indefatigable
The tide and I play tag.

Puff balls of spun spray skitter down the beach.
Dissolve in mid-air
Come to rest in the wrack of the tide line.

I stop to look : a silvery filigree of tiny bubbles
Rainbows in the big ones
Nesting in wind tossed, homeless eelgrass.

Behind me, footprints fill with icy water,
The bossy wind shoves and pushes
Suddenly one sneaker is cold and wet
Tagged by the tide .
 


I hear voices but see no people.
To the north the line drawn by tide on sand
Shrinks to a uninterrupted point in blue haze.
To the east the white horses toss their manes
(Impossible to resist that ancient imagery).
To the west, a towering wall of sandy cliff
Denies the advancing calvary.

And to the south,
 Only the blustering beautiful sea
 Overhead, Oh! Two geese just checkin’ in,
Dark silhouttes in the bright morning sun.
I shield my eyes from the light
Watching the exuberance of the waves and
The spurts of surf high-fiving.

In, out, up, down, advance, retreat
Immutable, irrestible, indefatigable.
The tide and I play tag.

n  April 2016

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