On the beach
Are the souls of a stranger;
Footprints
And a shadow of a man
Dressed in the sounds of midnight
Whom I’ve seen lost beneath immortal suns before
And still, they I’ll never speak to

And yet I hear them—
They come here to hear
The autumn sparrows
Sing their tales of flight: up in this atmosphere
Promise me
(they say)
That you’ll breathe
And unshackle your rusted wings

And they come to hear
The waves whisper
As they waltz among moss covered rocks
And we,
Footprint, shadow, and child
Listen
As their salty choirs chant about drowned memories at sea
And sing of the life they share
Within me

Footprints and shadows
Fleeting glimpses of man
Which secretly wish
Could tell man’s stories
As we weave them into spray paint cans
And cigarette butts

Carving, impaling our thoughts
Just to find each of us just a frail limb
Of a grand redwood
Or just a footprint
Left by a rubber soul
On the beach