By The Sea Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

We went to a restaurant by the sea
For fish as fresh as it could be.
We ate; we drank; we laughed; we talked.
Then out upon the beach we walked.

The sand was hot between our toes.
The waves lapped up to wet our clothes.
The breeze it smelled of salt and kelp.
And on a board a surfer knelt.

He found his wave; he took his pose.
And up above the sea he rose.
Like Neptune carried on a shell
Pulled by horses bred in hell.

And like a mortal taunting god
His arm raised high as if he held a rod,
Victorious he made his way
Towards the shore of the peaceful bay

When suddenly from underneath
A fin appeared and then the teeth.
And then before we thought to shout
The sea below him seemed to spout.

What happened next will haunt my dreams
With frothy waves and bloody seas
Reminding me that all is not as it may seem
Where Nature lurks in wait unseen.