Neap Tide

Today the falling surf uncovered rocks
that rarely see the sun; encrusted with
goose-barnacles and kelp and softer things,
the fleshy blossoms of the sub-littoral.
If it's true Kharybdis was a goddess
of the tides, anemones should be
called kharybdimones, for they are stirred
by tide as land anemones by air.

Upslope the sand, untouched by water these
three days, was sculpted by the wind into
fantastic dunes.The flats between were carved
to spiny ridges, hoodooed shelves that begged
for tiny shadows of some caravan
to give them planet-scale. Next week, I know
these lands will lie forgotten under waves
and wind and sand will write their names in shale.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside