The title is not my own, I borrowed it from a book by Robert Hughes. But I think it works well with what this is about, an experiment in poetry.
We saw the beach down below us, sweeping out towards the north
The grey waves breaking against the rocks
I carry a small plastic bag, a small styrofoam box within contains our lunch
We walk down to the beach; She stays on the path into the forests
I go right and down to the beach
We did not mean to split apart
The waves came closer and I realized I had to get back up to the wood
They became stronger and the water unsteadied my feet
The pebbles give away
I fight
My broken hand tries to keep hold of our lunch
Knocked down to my knees I can feel the stones abandon me
The styrofoam box floats away
I cry out for help and reach out with my right
I see Her turn towards me
Then the waves pulls me down and I hear a cry
I don’t know if it is any good. The inspiration behind it is a nightmare I had the other night. I always lived very close to the sea and even though I know how to swim I have always disliked being in saltwater. The fact that the sea I live near has always been the Puget Sound which is both cold and not particularly clean did not help. It is a primitive fear I suppose and this nightmare was not fun. Luckily it was short and I had something to distract me immediately upon waking. Anyway I thought it would be fun to experiment.