THE TIDE

Cape Elizabeth, Maine,
Ocean pounding,
Tide rolling in,
Reclaiming its domain,
Stranded, rock-bound barnacles, bivalves, seaweed,
Await their Mother's nourishment.

SEAWALL

York Harbor, Maine,
Seawall bolstered by billion-year-old boulders,
Containing stripes, curves and variegations.
These runes, like the sea,
Emanate immortal truths.
We humans, how trivial our plans;
How delusional our "wealth" and social posturing.
The clock is ticking,
Recycle, revitalize, replant or die.

SEA GIFTS

Anne Morrow Lindberg,
Thank you for your Gifts from the Sea.
I came to find my own, and
They were everywhere,
For seeing eyes and
Listening ears.

BEACH WALKS

Mysterious shards,
Of all geometry,
Tumbled smooth,
Striped,
Swirled,
Variegated

From whence came you?
What story yours,
Adventures from the deep or
Silent reveries?
Surrender please,
To this listening heart.

BLUE SHIRT

You,
With the blue shirt and rolled-up jeans,
I'm watching.
You cast your line with the rhythm of the sea,
As it travels to your naked feet.
In and out, cast you,
Without perturbation at an empty line.
Your purpose is in the casting
And in your silent communion with the deep.

ROCKING CHAIR PERCH

Family on boardwalk,
Heading to the beach,
Father charges first,
Little sister follows,
Bouncing toddler next,
Mother calmly bringing up the rear,
Hatted, tote bagged,
Carrying all three ducklings' necessities

BEACH WINGS

Flying pelican chorus lines,
Cardinal couple comes to call,
Bread crumbs eaten,
Seagulls paranoid glances,
As beaks grip food,
Birds soaring,
Flying social games,
Perches everywhere

FROM SLUMBER

Senses awaken,
Light beams,
Waves crash,
Birds conversate

SOLITUDE'S RHYTHMS

Awaken to ocean's beat,
Mornings writing,
Afternoons reading,
Rocking,
Resting,
Dinners out,
Frank crooning,
Evening beach walks,
Ocean lullabies

THE SIDEWALK

Long walk,
Lumina Avenue bustling,
Spring repairs,
Painters,
Gardeners,
Pine straw mulch nestles floral splendor.
Cool breeze,
Honeysuckle wafting,
One-speed, old-time bicycles,
Made to last,
New generation pedaling,
As it should,
We've ridden far too long.

MERRIMENT

On the beach,
Six children
Digging,
Running,
Laughing,
Squealing,
Building castles and
Greeting the surf.

Oops,
Mom patrol,
"Settle down,
You're having too much fun."

ON THE BEACH

Abandoned, yellow, plastic starfish smiling,
Passed on to waving toddler.
Pampered child crying,
Enjoying being inconsolable

Bikini body show,
Strutting wares,
Muscled surfboard daddies,
Looking cool

Nippy, at eighty-three,
A true beauty queen

No perfect shells for me,
But shards tumbled smooth,
In dancing patterns, and
Glistening hues of ruby-red,
Gold-to-brown, gray and white

NIPPY

Southern landlady,
Nippy, spunky at 83,
With 55 lived on this North Carolina beach

Downstairs, she quietly holds vigil
Over the comings and goings of her tenants and the sea.

She rents two units,
Each a little bit of heaven,
With seaside decks and four blue rockers.

Widowed in the 1990s, Nippy has one living son,
Jim, "a lawyer," who has two sons.
Alex is a chief neurology resident at Boston University, and
Cliff is a Winston-Salem "lawyer."

With a gleam in her eye,
Nippy introduced Cliff's wife, GiGi,
A Wake Forest resident,
Internal medicine this one.
"She'll be chief resident next year," said Nippy.

Nippy had another son, Neil,
Who graduated college and
Died climbing rocks.

"At least he died doing something he loved," says Nippy.
"It's easier to accept that way,
Than if he had been killed by a drunk driver or an overdose."

Attending her last high school reunion,
Nippy said, "Everyone introduced themselves as lawyers, doctors, judges and such.
I wondered what on earth I was going to say when came my turn.
Then, it came to me," she laughed. "I said I was in resort rentals.

NORTH CAROLINA BEACH

Arrival,
Ocean greets me.
"Welcome back."
Birds aflutter
Over balcony crumbs,
Long, hot bath,
Yoga stretches,
Seaside serenade,
Bed more comfy than my rumble seat


Addendum: On this trip, for speed and economy, I slept in the back seat of my vehicle.