apostrophe

it's gloomy texts my daughter

when i send a selfie of me

at the sea, oh no, i say and send

another

a papa and son jumping in waves

both squealing, a dance of cranes

dipping toes, like mine, massages

by foam

the waves are majestic today

i say and send the imagine

dragons song i'm playing on

repeat, the line

i'm an apostrophe

gets me

the little curve at the top of a

word, a turn inward, i am all

alone this morning, and not

the wind pushes my back, the

sand, born from thousands of

years of thousands of waves

slowly disintegrating stones

now soft sand holding my feet

a kind of embrace, i am held

i see an old woman alone

playing in waves, flapping her

arms high, laughing head to

the sky, such delight as if

she has just discovered joy

i stop so do others, so mesmerized

are we by her dance, like the cranes,

like the children building sand

castles and the old couple playing

frisbee

all of us turning in by turning

out this morning at high tide,

as the sun begins to peek through

clouds

but not quite yet

the sun too whispers, just a few

minutes more