Winter Beach

Hard gray and frozen day
Hunkered down in a dunescape drear
Tight lipped and knee hugging cold
Back to the offshore wind

No gull no footprint seen
As stiffly rising to face an angry surf
Begins an aimless solitary wander
Amid the scattered shells

Tide pool ripples to and fro
Bending reflections past and present
As low rustling sea oat whispers
Soft bring quiet musings

Hard clouds on sand on sea
Be hung in forlorn dismal aspect
Casting the chill sullen vista of
A lover’s eyes gone cold

And so it was and now is
In concert with fate’s flow and ebb
The flotsam and jetsam of years
Lies strewn beyond recall

With one last turn full round
As sole transient on the bleak expanse
Comes the calm anticipation of
Advancing night’s good fire