Currituck Island, NC
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Lying face down on a canvas raft
With the sun massaging warmth
into my exhausted hide
looking out to see
dappled lights dance on the salt water
drowsily listening to the rush and ebb
of the waves
the raft drifts in and out
an occassional angry wave
rushes up, pummeling the raft into the shore
clinging on, rolling in the sand
the water is cruel and mocking
trying to rip off my shorts and shoes
sunglasses, anything that it can get
I go back out to start again

sand is everywhere still
In the folds of my clothes
and the secret nether-folds of my body
a pleasant reminder

Riding the ATV along the beach at sunset
water sprays up from the leftmost tires
as they hit the shore line
weaving in and out of tide's edge
always wanting to be near it
the deep pink and orange of the setting sun
as I look to the right to see my family
smiling and laughing on their vehicles
the sand kicks up onto my feet and calves
washed off later at the outdoor shower
competing with the sixty leaping toads
for the cool spray

a toad sat on the edge of the hottub
brown like the others
just looking at me, not afraid
he seemed to like it there, so I let him stay
or maybe it was a chick toad
I didn't want to invade its privacy by investigating

The ATV guide said that the stumps along the shore
used to be the forest on the sound side
now there is a new forest on the sound side
as the island sand keeps rolling inward
toward the mainland
and upon reaching it
only to be swept out to sea again
forming a new island
every 300 years

people on the island know
when the sand shifts
you've got to move your house
there are houses in the dunes there
left behind by the people that gave up

sand washed away
by the final large wave of the day
as I knew it would be
but for a time my rhinoceros animal cracker
was perched atop the tallest turret room
of the mighty castle Blair of Scots
complete with moat-spanning popsicle stick drawbridge

The wild horses were left on the island
cargo, then remnants, of a Spanish wreck
the crew were not as good swimmers

A man who got tired of moving his house
Set his animals free
The horses mated with the wild horses
And joined their troop
Is that what happened to the Lost Colony?
The beefalo were rounded up by farmers and sold
A valuable commodity
Maybe that is what happened

Be careful of water mocassin mating season
Typically, they avoid humans
But they go crazy and get bold
When the marsh water is high

Walking along the shore at night
the waves crash into a single white line
that spans out at both ends
eventually stretching into infinity
and darkness
the crabs scurry along the dunes
startled, spiderlike sideways scurrying
it looks like the whole beach is crawling
not knowing, you would think that you were tripping
it makes your skin tingle
in the cool breeze

your body is a kite
flying off the stern of a small motorboat
you motionless, the wind rushing around your ears
forcing your eyelids shut
new crows feet cracking the browned eye-skin
you are at the center of the universe
the only deathly quiet place on the globe
so still
I imagine this is how spacemen must feel
the beautiful loneliness of space