Another Day

Walking seaside, sand soft as ever
Alone, but there are others here
They pass me from a distance
Separate singles, careful pairs
Walking six feet apart
Or is it twelve now?
Maybe they seek escape from confinement
Maybe fresh air, a welcome change
I never seek change, I’ll deal with that later
Today I only seek the sea

The ocean’s blue from yesterday’s rain
Horizon crisp, no smog, clean line
The sky’s blue too, cold blue like breath
I breathe in yesterday’s calm
And make sure to stay upwind of them
That group of twenty, gathered close
Heads together
Too close, heedless
Don’t they know what world they’re in?
Ignorance or ill intent
Our droplets and our poison breath
Let’s raise our glasses, drink to this
What else are we good for anyway?
Happy St. Patrick’s Day

The ocean doesn’t hear us and the ocean doesn’t know 
Unaware of all the beauty it holds alone
Beauty taken from all other things by us
It’s always us
Unafraid until we’re not
We don’t believe the truth, unhidden, unbidden, and then it’s too late
Another crash, no consolation
What’s a thousand bucks to this?
Everyone put on your blue light glasses
It’s going to be a long night

The waves don’t care, they crash and crash
The tide recedes and then it comes back
Airborne droplets hit my face 
Moist salt mist, it’s safe, we’re safe
Standing here and looking out
I can almost pretend.