First a twitter
from out by the breakers.
Fresh from clouds,
a south-surging mass
traces tiny glyphs
in the wet sand.

Flap your
elbows,
flutter your
fingers.

They’ll
let you
join them–
one proud
peep
among a zillion.

Copalis Beach, Washington

It was a blustery November morning on the southwest Washington coast. Large flocks of peep (mostly sanderlings on this day) were coursing south, sometimes looking like airborne venetian blinds, then landing to scurry along the water’s edge, feeding.
How wonderful to be alone on this vast, flat beach. Here, because I was free to be a fool, I was privileged to become an honorary sanderling for a while.