A Walk on a Rainy Beach

We had the wide beach
to ourselves this morning,
my love and I.
Hand in hand we walked
Watching
Domineering sun
Unable to penetrate one ray
Through wisps of water.
Instead—
Clouds swoop down
On the wings of gulls
To brush the sand
Now pockmarked, pelted
Punctured
By drops
Falling in a steady line
Impaling themselves
Over microscopic blocks of rocks
Clustered together
Miles upon miles
To infinity.

The ocean reaches out tender fingers
Seducing the sand
Into submission.
The intercourse
Leaves sand
Silky, velvety
Beneath caresses
Gentle but insistent,
Relentless
Irresistible.

Houses litter left
Restless ocean on right.
We walk, toes curling
Into a surface yielding
But quickly recovering.
No sign of our
Passing
By.
I turn my face up
To catch drips
Escaping
Clusters of vapor.
I feel liquid
Pass through me
And leak out my toes.
Into eternity.

January 1, 2015