I Am A Little Beach

• Portia Smallbone, Grade 12
• Poetry
• 2009

i am a little beach (no great harbour)
i do not profess to know the technicalities of the modern world
i know not which ship is leaving for where,
or who is homeward bound.
i merely sit, and watch. and wait.

i am a little beach (far from the feverish mess of your bustling and fumbling and scrounging and scratching)
i know not what you do for a living
or why you cannot sleep soundly at night.
i know only that when on my sands,
you do not care about today, tomorrow or yesterday.
you live to elude the waves, to roll in the sand.
you live to live.

i am a little beach (far from the disorder of what is your family)
i know not why you smile in front of the children
or why you quarrel behind closed doors
i know only that in me,
you find it easy to laugh, to find joy without words that can splinter life in minutes

i am a little beach (insignificant compared with the outside world you call your existence)
i am ignorant of so many things
but i do know the names of all my companions, oceansandsky.
i know the sounds of the sea
the gentle tinkle as you paddle in its ripples
the roaring blankness as you are overwhelmed in its thrust
i know the cries of seagulls
scrambling over the last tidbit
i know the laughter of your children
as they see your smile for the first time in weeks
i know those of you who stand on my shores for years
wondering what you are missing why you are always wrong

i am but a beach, (no great harbour)
but i do know a great deal.