Descend sixty-seven weathered steps
To an unimagined beach
Ashen bones of driftwood
Rest on crunchy pebbles
Huge elephant back boulders wade in the water
Others sunbathe on shore
Their million year boreal journey
Driven by the carving knife of glacier
Standing toe-to-toe with the water
Incoming waves topple knuckles down
The ocean’s primal supremacy on full display
It’s tireless armament barreling forward
Yet, feel the stillness
Just before the water pulls back into itself
The hypnotic moment urging us to let go
Before the next swell tucks its chin to tumble
Low tide retreats peeling away layers of gray
My eyes sift through what the ocean has spit out
Arrowheads from the Paleo people
Still wash up on these shores
I close my eyes
Let their stories pass through me
Closing the gap of thousands of years
Musical Selection
Artist: Jimmy Witherspoon (Jazz Flute)
Collection: Rockin’ With Spoon
Song Title: How Long
Susan Dashiell
Susan Dashiell is an ESL instructor living in Bloomfield, NJ, who enjoys collaging and writing during quiet moments. Her work has appeared in Meat For Tea, The Seventh Wave, and phoebe, to name a few.