what was it this
morning : you said
redgrass glistens
in surf : the pine
board fence collapsed
along the line : after
the storm a kestrel
in headwind : sand
accumulates on your
feet : puckered seal
skin : the salt-washed
flesh : wreckage towing
upshore : when the
gulls came out I saw
them circling in air :
saw them pecking
seals’ eyes from
torn skin : a boy
downstrand rolling
in dunes : I could see
the stomach’s red
wall : the small hairs
on its flippers : blubber
wretched by shark
bite from the belly’s
swell : later seen
from a dune : black
water : fish spit
pooling : mouth open
enough to see teeth
trailing in sand : his lips
limp : there in
the storm’s wake
I wanted something
to say : the ocean
scraped his insides clean
