the skeletons were in the sand you see
under a light layer easily lifted
by my toes looking for a place to hide
from the sun and salt that make up that day in my memory
the sun the salt and the silence
i had curled my toes around the smooth edge
unconsciously
the way your head leans into a lover's touch
and four waves crashed into the sand's reincarnational embrace
before my absentminded hand unearthed the evidence
and came away grasping the weathered stick
i did not scream
do not count it to me as a sin
but looking at the bone in my hand i could say nothing
i ran my finger up and down the greyed tube
feeling the softness that sand gives
as it rolls and rasps any roughness away over the years
i took it in my hand and watched how it cast a shadow
straight and thick over the dune
and then stood sending my own shadow away from the sunset
across the sand like a black ghost
He came from behind me and I did not see him
till he spoke and then I jumped
setting my toes carefully on top of the sand
as if there was nothing there
He looked at my hand clenched white around its burden
and raised his eyebrow
Oh you found one did you?
They're scattered all over these sands.
We burn them of an evening to watch the colours,
its the salt thats soaked into them, you see.
I backed away slowly unsure of what he meant
thinking of the northern lights
and how the cold people tell each other
that the swirling colours are the spirits of their little ones
playing all through the night
Maybe here too it fits
that in the midst of fire all that of beauty comes again
and we remember why we fell in love in the first place
still unsure I handed it to him
and with his sea-leather face he smiled
here, i'll put with the rest of the driftwood.
We'll have a pretty one tonight.
