at the beach

sunshine rolls off the gleaming spokes
of our parasol,
seeps into the sand,
runs between our fingers as they build
a castle from the damp and grainy gold
too close to the shore,
soon to perish among mighty waves,
in sweet surrender to the summer.

watched by our mothers, we sit and play;
dotingly, the ocean
waters with salty dew
the plastic toys we submerge in the sand;
hours pass and they grow deep into the ground
of childhood’s garden:
playthings forgotten on the beach.

this is life –
finding a friend
in every cloud that floats by,
running across the shore, waving
to ships that pass,
lending the earth our footprints,
to guide us home.

gulls call to the wind, carry hours away on their wings
into distant corners of our carefree world; soon,
too soon, time catches up with us,
and the sunset kisses us goodbye;

we run off in the pink-tinged atmosphere,

packing our freedom into the trunk of our car again,
losing the day to the blazing skyline,
driving off into the night;
holding shells up to our ears
to hear our memories whisper their names
once more before we fall asleep.