Oceanside Beach, California Poem by Kirby Wright

Santa Anas carry the scent of sage
Out from the desert.

Tumbleweeds reverse directions,
Roll west with the sun.

The sea today is blue and cold
Yet full of hidden treasures.

Where is the ring she lost
Playing in the shallows?

Boats are frozen offshore—
Their captains harvest

Fins and claws
Using nets and poles.

Onshore, a man hooks a snapper,
Smiles like a father

When the flesh is beached.
A girl’s laugh is answered

By a seagull’s cry.
A black helicopter sails by,

Disappears into the smog.
A grandmother is a child again

Chasing her granddaughter
Over the dirty blond shore.

Broken waves recede,
Exposing the bones of our future.