Brilliance

by Michael Witts

water like glass placed over white sand
 
scores of hermit crabs move at your feet
in borrowed shells    soon outgrown
smaller crabs grateful of the hand me down
the way of ideas
 
on the shore   shells flattened and uninhabitable
slowly disintegrating    replenishing this beach
you wander for hours
looking at dross    the dregs
and detritus the sea spits out
avoid the lumps of congealed oil
volatile under your prodding stick
avoid the gaze of mutton bird carcasses
bloated on the high tide mark
avoid their anguished beaks
 
in the haze the beach becomes a concept
you struggle to make sense of how
water and sky intersect    and where
the distance like some unknown future
tapering to an unseen point
sun disorders your senses
that smell of sex and ozone
the way you wish this time would extend
like the best of intimacies
 
footprints in the sand
steps like a crazy dance
to your ambiguous future

Michael Witts has been writing poetry for more than forty years. He has three volumes of poetry published namely Sirens, South and Dumb Music. He was a founding editor of DODO magazine. All his work may be accessed through michaelwitts.com