Sitting with the soft, white sand covering my toes, While the warm breeze tousles my fiery red hair Dozens of beachgoers mill all around me With their umbrellas and chairs and suntan oils. Still, it feels incredibly quiet As the seagulls fly around, The pelicans gracefully glide, And the dolphins swim and play. No sounds penetrate my mind For I am mesmerized by the vision of you Your dark hair with a smattering of gray Ou...

The orange-red horizon gains a purple hue As the sun is swallowed by the sea of deep blue The waves roll so gently they nearly look still As a gull overhead sounds a loud, mournful trill My soul feels empty, and my heart squeezes tight As the quiet afternoon transitions to night I sit and watch as the sky’s canvas fades As the terns and the sandpipers march their parades The chilly night air brings a dampness along As my...

The sand squishes between my toes as I descend into the warm gulf water. The cloudless sky and little fish swirling make me smile. I continue until I cannot touch the bottom and swim the rest of the way to the sand bar. Turning back to look at my home, I am grateful. I could have lost everything, but here she stands, undamaged by the vicious storm. I feel guilty as well—so many lost, so much destruction. But I remind myse...

Lily Burke walked the beach every morning as long as it wasn’t raining cats and dogs. On the weekdays, she walked briskly to keep in shape. But on the weekends, she allowed herself to meander along the shoreline, looking for shells to add to her already overflowing collection. Sometimes she would find little treasures like a button or a hair clip. But on this particularly sunny morning, Lily spotted something that gleamed...

As the wind carved its way swiftly across the sand and rocks of the Wirral side of the River Dee, seagulls tried desperately to maintain some sort of stability as they circled in the air, and a few dogs that were out still played and jumped around as though not affected. One of those dogs, ‘Baron’, a three-year-old border-collie sniffed around the rocks and pebbles for nothing in particular, its owner near the shoreline,...

As they sat watching the sun dipping into the blue-green water of the gulf, they sighed. It wasn’t the vacation they had planned, that was for sure. They’d spent the past two years planning an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa. Their chosen destination was Kenya, where they would have spent eight days on a safari, two nights at the Giraffe Manor, and one final night at a luxury hotel in Nairobi. It was their drea...

Over the years I got preoccupied with work.  Especially after my divorce. I worked all the time to preoccupy my thoughts so I wouldn’t become too bitter.  It helped for some time, but all I felt was emptiness.  A sense of longing was what I was looking for. Companionship?  Relationship?  Time away from my troubles? Yes! Yes! Yes! I needed all of that and more.  My self-imposed exile would be ending.  I decided to finally...

As I sit upon the ancient sandWith the faithful sun aboveMy eyes relax in hypnotic calmAs the sea laps with eternal loveSwashing waves of tendernessPush up the satin shoreGentle hands of massageWhich glide down again once moreComfort's sigh infusesAs the sea does glint and danceWith salt-air in my nostrilsI merge into a tranceNo reflection of past or futureIntrudes my supine mindI am there with the watersWe ebb and flow c...

Running at full tilt, all out, across the sandy shore for the very first time.  Unleashed and released and giving it all he has to complete the puppy race. The very first time will live in his canine heart and mind forever. Along that sandy, classic, ecstatic beach. The new memories are formed. New ones to add to the old. For when there are only memories that remain when one of us is gone. For when none of us can run full...

Morning was my favorite time of day, sitting with a good cup of coffee, listening, watching the world awaken. This Friday morning, I sat in the dunes overlooking the Pacific Ocean, my coffee cup in hand. I thought I would winter over in San Francisco by couch surfing with friends. The same friend had offered me a temporary job at her framing shop. I strove to get up and out of the house before they awoke. It just seemed c...

Such joy our time at the shoreMany things we did each day Making sandcastles on the beachSwimming in the bay  We rode a pontoon boat Fantasy Island such a joy The Ferris wheel and lots of gamesThe little one loved winning a toy  The locals are all so pleasant A guided ghost tour one night We learned of Jaws and haunts Trembled from all those sights  A museum full of ocean treasure Disasters of the island on display Rumrun...

Catrin ran full tilt, her bare feet kicking up sand. Gleaming in the sunlight, her long auburn hair billowed out behind her like a sheet of flames. Without breaking stride, she glanced over her shoulder, and shrieking, picked up the pace. With the bells on her felt antlers jangling raucously and peals of laughter ringing from her throat, heads turned to look as Catrin smashed headlong into a huge, smirking Sandman. “Arghh...

As they walk together hand in hand The sun setting in the distance tonight Enjoying the moment as they stand Holding each other feels just right Hands are locked, fingers entwined The waves calm and in their reach The waves rush together and collide They walk together on the beach Summer nights dwindling by Fall days on the horizon Walking together with her guy Her boyfriend proposes with a diamond She accepts his wonderf...

The fifty-two-metre fishing trawler loomed high above us, its rust-ravaged hull already succumbing to the relentless invasion of barnacles and other parasitic sea life. Listing forty-odd degrees on its port side, it exposed its belly like a lazy dog hoping for a pat. It was a monolith. I felt tiny in its presence.I chased the slowly ascending trail of bubbles around the leaning prow of the trawler. They were long, diagona...

Lover, how could we have knownthis time last year, that you would not be here. That time would have run out. We planned on forever, today should have been the beginning and yet, our forever ended some time ago. They say time heals all wounds, and perhaps that is true. But enough time has not elapsed to ease the pain of you leaving me. Here I sit, upon this white sand as the storm moves in, the sky is dark, water rolling i...