Crackers and Gulls

  

sea blanched shells, sand dollars 

vacant crafts of life

strewn upon miles of winsome shore

unintentional formations

for sunrise joggers to evade,

transients to fancy

 

the tide burst forth narrative,

bits and pieces, trinkets of death

treasures we greedily assaulted

selecting the splendid, seeking only the flawless

we crammed leather hobos full, destined for conformity;

 

the suburbs of hudson’s dull existence surrendering

the lure of this day, this island, this melodrama

fantasia, foreign to ice-drizzled mountains

we'd climb our way home,  soberly desert

 

a brilliant sunburst cresting summer’s horizon

before beach-dwellers tossed tumbled stones

and the ocean revoked her remnants,

like unwanted strays dredged back to their shelter

 

we pitched crackers high as small arms reach

up through salted breeze

inviting a flock of circling gulls

that swarmed our heads like agitated bees

practically brushing flat our dithering hair

 

off-white wings tipped with surf

they dodged and dove so close,

frighteningly daring

reminding me of you

 

from afar you studied a postmarked photo

where we strolled a beach crowned by dawn

two sets of footprints marring wind-brushed sands

anxious surf nibbling our knees

i loved that photo as i loved the horizon but i loved you most

 

you asked several times who'd captured that view

wondering if we'd simply been two women alone ?

a stranger had snapped it i promised

your voice caught then strained

amplifying deception

 

a sleepwalker rudely awakened

should i confess he perched on a terrace ?

a towering vulture amidst the gulls, the sea, the sands

the peace, the glory, the fairy tale

the ocean between you and i

 

poetry is copyright Victoria Valentine 2009

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