Fall '06 TOC
Swash zones begin where waves crest reach to extend
fingers white water reach seize greenish yellow clay silt stone wall
a strata of oyster shells dusky yellow quartz and feldspar overlain thick orange sediment
a Mira Mesa owl burrows where buckwheat finds a foot Come here! Touch the middle Eocene
forty-eight million years a tectonic meaning abiding advancement
sands rise cliffs erode groundwater seeps emergent coast
stop it a seawall a sea WAUL by the Sea
A former scout of Buffalo Bill markets the beach with a 1886 calling card:
a natatorium in the surf double pier pilings bedded in ocean rock
wire netting to wood enclosure timid bathers sink and swim without fear of stingray or under tow
like the prow of a ship brunting against smashing breakers buffering holiday makers from wake.
It’s one hundred twenty years later most is gone, still, from above where unstable sandstones bluff
between railroad and reef unaware beachcombers pass histories footprints reveling in low tide.
where trains still pass a stump in memoriam a four story pavilion
ghosts now, spinning poems and Quadrille dancers at the casa fire fells dreams
broken board dilapidation bids bonfires boardwalk planks decay under weeds memories occupy million dollar lots
gulls and strollers steer clear rabbits dart squirrels disappear as electric steel beast sends
wild mustard a waft in nexus of whoosh and stampede
Fifteenth street wades into worn pilings low hiders in flow extend a thousand feet more
visitors enticed by plank stroll salty air beyond shore — This pier for the Caucasian race only —
Exclude whom from seeing foam? Formidable Nature posits reform responding with forty-two storms
she swamps and sinks precarious airs appearances affected by vandalizing decay. It’s just a matter of time
till frogman lay primacord and TNT exploding spile to stump commingle history with cobble
a surfer’s spot a mollusk junction cling to permanence
like riprap barriers protecting unobstructed views of chaise lounge family rooms.
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