Sandcastles

12 September 2022

I am watching the children build sandcastles.
I know they won't mind, though I think they will wonder
what keeps me away. I am not one to join
where I know that the wind and the waves will destroy.
But I do not mind watching. Sometimes their achievement
is marvelous, but I cannot silence
the sound of the crashing waves. It's like time,
you know, after a long day, when the quitting bell rings.
That bell rings for me always, and over such noise
little castles of sand have no hold. I don't mind, though,
watching, and sometimes I wish I could join them.
It would be like hope, you know, after a long doubt.
But I cannot shake loose of the grip of the sea.
I will watch these new sandcastles fall, like the last,
and leave only some footprints behind.