Beachcombing

 

A touch of heron essence,

like a feather

found on the shore

 

Tidepools holding tiny fish

and little crabs or more

mysterious things.

 

Faint perfume of sea salt and stone

Scattered bivalves lie open

as empty books

waiting for their pages

 

to be written in the dunes

by the wind

in shifting sand 

or by receding tides,

 

leaving windrows

of kelp and seaweed

woven by the glyphs of plovers

and driftwood etched with runes.

 

Occasional sea glass

bottle green or blue

Flotsam or jetsam? 

Their stories smoothed away,

 

concealed in shadows

revealed in sudden light.

A rare agate found

completes the day.