Breathe in the fresh air.
Soak up the sunlight.
Travel everywhere.
Stay up till midnight.

Wear your hair down.
Play your favorite songs.
Put on a flower crown.
Bring your friends along.

Then turn off the music,
and listen to the roar of the waves.
Bury your feet in the sand.

Let all your worries float away.

We wrote our names in the sand.

The gentle rain began to grace the
shores with its mysterious beauty
as its delicate droplets fell
slowly
from the heavens high above.

The sun's rays refracted
against the glistening waters,
and the rain dissipated
when it came in contact
with the smooth surface of the ocean blue.

Crystal clear streaming drops continued
making their way to the waves,
but soon their gentle graces grew
into pounding pours.

The lightning came without warning.
The sun hid behind the dark clouds.
The tides began to toss and turn,
and the waves crashed against the sand,
washing away our names
until all that was left was

the sand, the waves, the lightning
and the rain.

I was the shoreline
and you were
the waves

the ocean was
my deepest
escape
so i swam until
i found you

California Kids

I’ll call you up on Saturday
And invite you over.
Take the 101, 110 and 1;
(Sounds like an equation!)
And you’re there.
Just use your GPS..
There’ll be a party at my house,
Daft Punk playing on the Echo.
It’ll be epic, Echoic!
With some vintage’ tunes,
Crankin’ the Beach Boys,
Watching surfers
Shredding out-the-back,
Past prowling sharks in the shallows.
Lets go to the dunes and maybe kiss.
I know that you miss me,
So don’t ask me why
And when you come,
I won’t ask
“What are you doing here?”
We’ll eat fish tacos,
Guacamole, Pico de Gallo
And drink margaritas
While we debate French new wave,
I’ll praise Truffaut while you
Tell me that Scorsese is the man.
When we get drunk enough
I will suggest a walk
Along the iridescent surf.
You should say yes because
I’m safe now that I drive electric,
That I turned vegan
(sorry about the fish)
and wear cruelty-free clothes.
I don’t grill snapper anymore
And take my shoes off inside the door.
Maybe we’ll make it to Tower 28,
Lay down and watch the full moon
Like Jim Morrison did to write.
I’ll tell you I’m glad you’re alive—
I’m no poet, but you know that.

the rustling of the leaves in the trees
the audible tremble
of a collective chill
sounds just like the beach

my front porch
a shining metropolitan shore
the sun seems to soften into welcoming;
a different sun
that doesn’t scowl hotly over apartment complexes
and make liquid of asphalt and people

a benevolent warmth
you can only get
out of the city

the air rubs itself in coarse salt
and Coppertone

this glass of water
in my hand
may well be the ocean
the shift in my lap
the waves
a floating leaf
a boat
adrift on cerulean seas

the children laughing and playing here
are the same children
laughing and playing there, too

i am reminded that everything
can be given a new life
if you tell a wild heart
of an ordinary thing

if i just
close my eyes
a beach
is never far away

St Simons Island, Georgia USA
East Beach, 12/4/2011

"Your focus determines your reality." —Qui-Gon Jinn


Witnessing an
amazing low-tide
phenomenon,
as if a walkway to
a parallel world
has suddenly appeared,
extending one-half mile
from East Beach
out to sea

People are slowly
gathering, walking, stopping,
stooping, staring in silence,
speaking softly—
I'm as eager
as Simon Peter
to join them, yet
somewhat afraid of
walking where
there has been
only seawater
minutes before—
Chattering dolphins
beckoning in the distance
instill confidence

So I join them,
stepping from the
beach onto the
other-worldly terrain,
first 42 steps confirming
we are not alone!
Surrounded by
a menagerie of
sand *****, clams,
beach flea amphipods,
sea roach isopods,
ghost, hermit, and
fiddler *****, even
cannonball jellyfish—
shades of the
Mos Eisley Cantina
on Tatooine
in miniature

But beware of
semidiurnal
tidal cycles—
Twice a day
at high tide
the sea, like an
unstable vortex
of a Chappa'ai,
consumes the
phenomenon,
even the beach itself
to the edge of
the dune


"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience." —Frank Herbert

"So long and thanks for all the fish!" —Farewell message from exiting dolphins, translated by Douglas Adams



Mark Toney ©️ 2023