Mushrooms, Splinters, and Thorns

Beach

Beach

When the young woman appears,
like a shadow in an empty mirror,
the breeze on salty water
brings in the sea foam
on to the sandy beach.
To her, turquoise waves,
dunes, gulls, crustaceans,
all speak of the same thing,
and she kneels and digs
beneath the sand
for sea shells and memories,
something to keep for eternity,
something that floats and glides
far over the horizon
to the other side of the ocean
where warplanes burn,
rumbling, roaring,
high into the red sun,
where the one who left
does not hear the surf anymore.