THE SAND HILL REVIEW         http://www.sandhillreview.org       2001 May

 

Sand Grains

 

Wave after wave curls up the beach.

Each brings a few grains of sand

to deposit in an undulating ridge

that marks the edge of the water's forward motion.

 

Each wave brings a few grains of sand

to the cliff of exposed boulders

that marks where the water's forward motion

was broken in last winter's storms.

 

Over the cliff of exposed boulders,

skewed remnants of wooden stairs

broken in last winter's storms

remember the dunes that once were there.

 

One of the broken wooden stairs

has been replaced. The wood is new,

the dunes that once were there

remembered in its shape.

 

The beach is being replaced,

the undulating ridge of dunes

remembered in the shape

of waves that curl with sand grains up the beach.

 

Maureen Eppstein