Spartina grass bends in the tide.
Seaweed flows between phragmite fronds.
Great while herons and snowy egrets
line the shore fishing.
Cormorants pass in a pack;
some scoot under the water to fish.
Geese steam by, their heads
at a haughty angle.
The tide unswirls.
Buoys twist and turn
in the boiling water.

Outgoing tide pulls against the legs
of bathers standing in shallow water.
A little girl in a red bathing suit,
unwraps a sandwich, takes a bite
of the soft bread, peanut butter and jelly.
Some swimmers do a graceful crawl
between buoys, others dog paddle
close to the beach.
Walkers pass close to the water,
up and back to the bathrooms and showers,
line up at the ice cream stand.
A yellow umbrella twists in the wind.

A high school boy lies back on his blanket
feels the warm sun on his skin
a faint cool breeze across his face.
He takes a deep breath of salt air
thinking, what a good idea it was
to play hooky. 

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