Each Footstep After

Seagulls raid
Crumbs from grains
Desolate stretch of beach
Scattering in scavenge
Fruitless visit brief

Circling the rundown pier
Away in random patterns
Instinctive fear
Kid carnival signs
Graffiti spattered

Crystalline shroud
Self-talk loud
Crunch sound underfoot
November frost
Webs of lit gems
Life being what actually happens
Imagination meets reaction
Rejection unbalancing satisfaction

Sand transparency
Drawn out of dreams
Glistening shimmers
No longer a quitter

I walked here
Many days, some nights
Closing my eyes
Salty breeze
Tactile sting
Nostrils tighten
Involuntary tearing
Droning waves batter
Review all the fearing
Clocks cease ticking
Wait a sec…

Ocean swell breathing
Nothing was hope to be
Still seeking
Tides teeming
And what really matters
Every footstep after
Horizon line an endless sea