Reach for me, my friend
From the gloom besetting you
I have light to spare
Tag: Cannon Beach
Stormy Solitude
Rain abated
Dimpled sand dries in Rorschach patches
Sky a mottled grey
A single darkened cloud
Mimics patterns in the sand
Some might wish for the sun
To feel the heat on their skin
Or rising from the scalding sand
Secure in the haven of a beach towel
Beneath an umbrella in a sea of beachgoers
But I prefer this solitude
Shared only with the rumbling surf
And the gull idling by
On the penetrating wind
Which tousles my knotting hair
Draw my windbreaker tight against the insistent chill
Rub some warmth into my thighs through the denim
All the while engaging the impression
That I have this spectacular planet
All to myself
Surf Song
With gentle insistence
The ocean rises up to greet me
And I, pant legs rolled to my calves
Welcome it’s cool, frothy embrace
Enjoy the caress of water over my ankles
The sensation of sinking into the sand
As the receding wave draws the beach
From beneath my feet
I stay there for an hour or so
Take a few steps back
When the waves threaten my trousers
A few steps forward
When they fail to reach me
My sandpiper dance
In time with the surf song
And its choir of gulls
Ashore
The world comes apart a little
As I drag myself up onto the shore
Desperate to make the high tide line
Before exhaustion consumes my consciousness
Which seems already sparsely rational
The flood tide saved me
Put land within my reach
But while the Moon is a compassionate Goddess
The Sea Lord is greedy
And eagerly awaits Her waning influence
To drag me back to His depths
Hand over hand I crawl
Wet sand beneath my nails
Sodden clothes a sullen weight
Every laboured breath sputters salt water
Until my eyes roll back
With a final thought
I hope this is far enough
Overcast, Serene
On a cool, calm morning
Overcast, serene
The river and the people
Flow out to the shore
There to be lost
In their own way
To the surf and the sea
Beachcomber
Beachcombing
You come with me
The same way you come shopping
Indulge me
Shopping
You come into the mall
Find a comfortable place
Then sit and read
Or people watch
Feign interest in the things I buy
Then watch over the bags
While I go to another shop
At the beach
You walk safely
Beyond the longest waves
While I splash about
Getting soaked
Finding sea stars and shells
Sand dollars and seaweed
Always feigning amazement
At the wonders I bring
But whether a crowded mall
Or an empty beach
You always come
Often despite my protestations
That you don’t like to shop
Or go beachcombing
That you’ll be bored
And I’m sure your time
Would be better spent
Doing something else
“No”
You say
“I’m coming”
And it always surprises me
Takes my breath away
When I notice that your feigned pleasure
In a new scarf
Or a hermit crab
Is just a distraction
Because you’re not looking at the object
I’m showing you
You’re looking at me
With the sparkle of wonder in your eye
And I’m reminded again
That you come
To be with me
And there’s no place
You’d rather be
And, my god
I could not love you more
For the way you take pleasure
In indulging me
Perfect Beach Day
Many will argue
Or just stay home
But there seems to me
No finer day
For a stroll on the shore
Than one marked
By a chill spring wind
Under a deep grey sky
Spitting rain and mist
In the temperate rainforest
That created the magnificent
Oregon coast
The Ebb & Flow of Possibility
In between
The dead
And the not dead
In between
What is
And what is not
In between
The light
And the not light
There find
The realm
Of possibility
Seen only
By those who conceive
A world without absolutes
Where dreamers dream
Between sleeping
And waking
While the world flows
Between being
And non-being
In the wakening hours we dance
Between self-remembering
And self-forgetting
This is the ebb and flood
Between the conscious
And the unconscious
Like the darkness
And the light
In eternal conflict
Only the master sees
The dominance of either
Is true darkness
While the light burns brightest
In those who come to know
The balance of both
Haystack Rock
A seductive rock
On ocean’s edge
Half the day
Surrounded by the tide
Attracting thousands
Nature’s iconic monument
To a monumental coastline
In time with the waves’ ungentle caress
They saunter near, then scramble back
This flightless flock of sandpipers
Photographs and selfies
Arm-in-arm and hand-in-hand
A deep breath in, a longer one out
The calm that comes on any shore
Where the surf rumbles and sighs
Some may say it’s the rock
But the rock is a draw as any other draw
A pier, a lighthouse, beach chairs and gazebos
It is the sea which helps us remember ourselves
Morning Stroll in the Sand
A lazy Thursday morning
When life is but a stroll in the sand
With the river flowing out
The waves rolling in
Very breath of Earth
As we all take a welcome sigh
In advance of the hodge-podge concerns
The day will all-too-soon offer
May I carry that sigh of the sea
Into the coming hours
Breathe in waves of beauty
Let the day’s worries flow from my earthly body
The only weight I’ll bear
Left behind on the beach
Footprints in the sand
Pix to Words 