The crush and crush of waves seduce
A child to sleep, they curl and sluice
The sand and shells to surging deep.
A girl shies out through surf to leap
And swim away from shore so long
She cannot hear the silent song
Of lust the boy who wants her sings.
An old man hobbles out and flings
His bones through foam and frothy swells
That coax from him a sigh that tells
Of love for time come near its end.
The sun burns red, its rays attend
Till cooling dusk swings wide the gate
To nightfall, empty, cold, to fate
That waits in stars draped overhead.
Come night, the child now tucked in bed
Still hears beneath his dream and loll
The sobs of waves, the ocean’s roll.