hatch of mayflies
a cloud of dun, fluttering
above glassy calm - ACC

tapping against the dock
a bloated water rat - KBS

tin can
shines like a fish belly
from the mud - ACC

searching for seashells
glass shards underfoot - CL

sand crabs burrow
sandpipers race the foam
ebb tide - HL

from the hotel --
dinner music - KBS

oil tanker
long and low -- no gulls --
glides through the swells - ACC

white sand swirling
on outstretched palm - CL

clinging starfish
tentacles grip and stretch --
tidepools deepen - H

treasure from the sea
dried and sand-encrusted - CL

bleached hull
weathers upon the strand
deserted - AG

seashore ever changing,
feathers, tar and oil - CL

in the ship's wake
a spread of garbage --
a squall of gulls - KBS

buoy-bells clank- lights
glimmer and fade in mist - ACC

plash of oars
stench of fish rotting
lighthouse flashes - AG

bobbing in the bay
red lantern, red faces - KBS

breezes riffle --
white moonlit path to
night's horizon - HL

landward, a moonwashed trail
gleams on wave-rippled sands - ACC

salt marshes
sheep graze unaware
tides rising - CL

rivulets merging --
sea creeping upon sand - HL

under the lid
of the red lacquer bowl --
seaweed in broth - KBS

red timber tossed ashore
bounty for the village - CL

empty bottle
screw cap rusted tight
two barnacles - ACC

driftwood embers sputter --
woodsmoke in sea mist - HL

in the motel room
awake: cigarette smoke
someone passing - KBS

high heels on boardwalk
sea spray on rotting planks - CL

sleek cormorants
one per musseled mooring
bills tucked - ACC

fish scales glinting
silver in the nets - HL

cruising the dike
a pink Cadillac: dark windows
chrome fins - KBS

pastels and neon
Art Deco revival - CL

ratta-tat gunfire
explodes from flickering
arcade screens - ACC

on the hot sea wind --
popcorn, cheap perfume - HL

red balloon riding
a string, higher and higher --
white pelicans wheel - KBS

seagulls swooping down
beaks pecking, drawing blood - CL

wavy tide line
cracked into crimson shards
crab carapaces - ACC

footprint traces
awash in sea foam - HL

"Begun in Autumn 1994 in rainstorms, blizzards and sunsets; passed from person to person, carried in back-packs, glove compartments and even spilled coffee on it." - Helen Lee