if you walk the beach early

sift dawn through fog

a spaniel frisks in shallow waves

one stoic man following

the sand is cold on bare

feet & briny washes up & eddies round

I have time to look for seashells & shark

teeth & trigger fish & expired oddments of nature

time to walk way distant

then more

but I missed the morning due to misadventure

so instead walked at noon

overhead was glare and sweat

underfoot was curled with heat

dry and thick

stumble sand it was

and bodies tossed & strewn among

umbrellas & towels & chairs all ajumble

children leaping and digging joyous

so many bodies

like chiggers and jiggers on a dog.