ON A GEORGIA SHORELINE
Sun rolls in on a wave. Morning has crossed
the sea to be here. Sky is the blue of starling’s eggs.
In the distance, fluttery breezes preen the sails
of a yacht. A small motorboat putt-putts out
from behind the headland. An unimpressed
lighthouse looms overhead. Beyond the breakers,
cormorants fish in rich waters. A stand
of guardian conifers bristles with salt.
In stunted grass, sandpipers nest, behind a wall of
“No Trespassing” signs. Not all life is assured.
Some remains precarious.
A loud family claim the solitary picnic table.
Others are content to let towels do the work of tables.
Giddy children test their mettle at the ocean’s edge,
with dipped toes and some splashing, then retreat
into their inner world of buckets and spades and sandcastles.
Pale-skinned interlopers stand out like night-lights
amid the bronzed regulars. By day’s end,
their bodies will be as red as “Stop” signs.
Under a striped umbrella, an old couple take
their shaded fill of a warmth that’s been coming here
millenniums longer than they have.
It’s hard to believe ships sank off this coast,
Not with the water this calm.
Besides, the past so long ago, it hardly matters.
The lifeguard watches from his wooden throne.
His purview is a hundred yards out to sea.
He’s the sheriff in swim-trunks.
Desperadoes in these parts run to shark-fins and rip currents.
A tiny girl grips a shell that her hand can barely hold.
An older boy pokes a jelly fish with a driftwood spear.
Three little ones look on, say “Yuk” in chorus.
The occupant of a new bikini tip-toes in the foam
but goes no further. She vows no cold ocean will
embrace her bare midriff. Hers is the path tracked
by the most male eyes. She even ropes me into
this poem, something I was hoping to avoid.
But I look for as long as the blinding sun allows.
She disappears in a glow. How fitting.
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Shift, Trampoline and Flights. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Levitate, White Wall Review and Willow Review.