Tides Out:

The tide is out- my dog racing my daughter Chelsea to the sea

hopeful, warm, delightful, as sand squishes between her mother’s toes

Satisfaction like swift phalanges drop seashells inside her empty pockets

Bewitching as a sea witch, tossing out toxicity like a mauve sea star back into the surf

Her sandcastle was made by hempen hands, sun-dried driftwood rolled- waved sea glass

Her conventional life awash, “Did I build this ship to wreck?”

Nestled in the cove, in the swell below

Sand crabs buried themselves like open secrets; a pincher clasps her snout, and the dog sneezes

Chelsea let's out a yelp as her pinky toe looked like a bloodworm; a crustacean holding on for dear life

Mermaids in the basement behold eyes piercing as black pearls, my cup overflows

A three-prong trident swirls the clouds, as Poseidon aged like a stargazer fish

The harsh wind ripples, as the waves jostle tasty wrack seaweed ashore

No man has moved me so, like high tide