Poetic Bloomings Life's a Beach Seaweed

Seaweed 

S oggy, slimy sea salad

E ntangling fingers
A nd tickling toes of swimmers
W iggly, wobbly weeds
E ven these bottom dwellers
E nd up on rich tables and stars’ faces and
D ivinely supply most of earth’s oxygen

Poetic Bloomings Life's a Beach Sandcastles

Sandy Solidarity

Pile sand, wet sand

Pat, pat, pat
One piles and pats.
One runs to water’s edge
back and forth with pail.
Pile, pile, pile
Pat, pat, pat
Toothpick-pierced paper scrap
will serve well as flag.
Time to tunnel.
We dig.
One on one side
One on the other
We scoop with spoons or small shovels.
Carefully we keep it from crumbling.
We dig, pat, smooth over cracks.
Then at last,
 we grab each other’s gritty hand.
We succeed.
We smash. We laugh.
We do it all again.
I wish we’d work together
on all our castles in the sand.

Poetic Bloomings Life's a Beach Lifeguard

Fear of Fear

I was afraid he’d be afraid

like I had been for so many years.
He, my son, was small
when I finally overcame my fear
and rode the waves.
So when he, at ten, ventured
out a ways I just watched
biting my lip,
but the white-nosed thin blond
atop her perch whistled and
shouted about the undertow
and in he came.
Otherwise, he might
still be lost at sea.

Poetic Blooming Life's a Beach Swimming

Not Drowning but Waving

(from Stevie Smith’s Not Waving But Drowning) 

Everybody watched the swimmer

Splashing, kicking, playing

They held their breath as he flailed about

And not drowning but waving

He made things appear difficult

But he survived
They pulled him out despite his shout he was okay
He thrived

Oh, yes, yes, yes, he’s gangly and awkward

Adventurously playing
He’s not one to make things look easy
And not drowning but waving

Poetic Bloomings LIfe's a Beach abstract

Sharks chomp wounded

Rays sting innocents

Funded folks behead us? 

Poetic Bloomings Life's A Beach Deserted Beach

Meeting at Dawn

The sun appears to be adrift at sea

A seagull silhouette squawks harsh greetings
This morning it’s just the seagull and me
But there is someone else I’ll be meeting
The bird, the sun and sea, He made all three

Poetic Bloomings Life's a Beach Hello to the Beach

The Ocean Waves

Hello, beachcombers and swimmers having fun

Hello, barking dogs and children on the run
Hello, gritty sand glittering in the sun
And the ocean waves

Hello, lifeguards soaking the rays

Hello, sunbathers content to laze
Hello, salty air with a haze
And the ocean waves

Hello, seagulls screeching in the sky

Hello, jellyfish lying out to die
Hello, sandpipers running by
And the ocean waves
 
Hello, sunscreen, fragrant and warm
Hello, beach chairs fitting to form
Hello, clouds ready to storm
And the ocean waves

Hello, beach umbrellas, my retreat

Hello, lemonade, cold and sweet
Hello, towels to wipe my feet
And the ocean waves