The Shiny Ocean

 

I long to hear the song

of the shiny ocean

gliding onto shallow shores,

polishing the slopes of sand

with a brief shimmering light;

again, again, and again.

I want to return

to the seashore

to watch the Willets

dancing in and out,

leaving tiny tracks

along the reach of the surf.

To witness Brown Pelicans

flying in formation

skimming close to the surface, then

plunging their massive bodies

headlong into the water;

a scoop of cold fish soup.

After these many winters

hiking dry desert washes,

I thirst for the sensation

of waves washing my feet,

and the wide horizon curving away,

carrying shiny ocean dreams.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1.  Beverly Beach State Park - Oregon

2. La Jolla, California

3. Barefoot Beach - Florida

4. Barefoot Beach - Naples, Florida 

5. Sanibel Island - Florida

The Shiny Ocean

 

I long to hear the song

of the shiny ocean

gliding onto shallow shores,

polishing the slopes of sand

with brief  shimmering light,

again, again, again.

I want to return

to the seashore

to watch the shorebirds

dancing in and out,

leaving tiny, temporary tracks

along the reach of the surf,

that rinses away 

any trace of their tracks.

To witness the Brown Pelicans

flying in formation

close to the surface, then

plunging their massive bodies

headlong into the water;

coming up with a scoop

of cold fish soup.

After these many winters

hiking dry desert washes,

I thirst for the sensation

of waves washing my feet,

and the wide horizon curving away,

carrying shiny ocean dreams.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Neptune Beach - Oregon

2. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

3, 4, & 5. Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park - Naples, Florida

Willet

It seems the Willet
never gets its fill, it
advances into the wavelet
then retreats upshore, it
never seems to stop. 

Will it?

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Sunset Beach, North Carolina  

Temporary

While Willets wade
the shallow surf,

Sanderlings design
and redesign
the saturated sand,

signing their signatures
with temporary tracks,

and feeding while 
the water's receding, 

then leaving.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

2. 3. 4. & 5. Lover's Key State Park - Bonita Springs, Florida 

At the Edge

Spending your days
finding food.
Your one true vocation.
Surviving.

Thriving
at the edge of the sea
where humans long to be
on their short vacations.

You walk daily in this place
along the tapered, sandy shore,
gleaning the thin skim of water,
where continents greet oceans.

Your spindly legs
running past,
running fast.
Legs an intermittent blur;
a cartoon-like whir.

Zigzagging

back and forth,

along the froth,

patrolling the line of foam

for fresh organisms;

rolling in,

rolling in

again.

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3.  Sunset Beach, North Carolina (N.C.)

2. 4. & 5.  Point Reyes National Seashore, (Point Reyes) California

Click on photos to enlarge.

Willet - Catoptrophorus semipalmatus