Photo by: Lauren G. Google Images
shells of hue from
bold byzantium,
blushed pinks
to flaxen ginger
shells collected
throughout the years
seashore alive
with endless riches,
intimacy with
nature had
us transfixed
by the splendor
laughing gulls and tiny
blur-legged pipers with
low-swoop-diving pelicans,
and sightseeing dolphins
terns and crabs and
skeletons of fishes
on inexhaustible beaches
of diminutive coquina
laid crushed by the millions
starfish,
sand dollars,
sea urchins
and us
floating, bobbing
in the warm, waving gulf
my heart was sated
those days on Captiva
a distant, hazy dream
recalled…
of carefree days
exploring that island
now departed,
by a placid,
slow demise,
no longer I
entwined with you
hollow shells where once love grew
Photo: Google Images; Heron on Captiva Island
Natasha Head tends the pub bar tonight at dVerse Poets: http://dversepoets.com/2012/09/25/openlinknight-week-63/ Everyone is welcome to join in with a poem to share.
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dragonkatet
/ August 2, 2012Oh! This was full of so many lovely images, Gayle. It made me remember my own beach-combing days on vacations to Sanibel Island or Whidbey Island (two very different beaches with very different “leavings”) :)
“now departed,
by a placid,
slow demise…
hollow shells where once love grew” <— I love how the poem builds to this metaphor. So many times love does slowly erode, like the ocean washing away the beach…sad. On the other hand, I liked the picture of the heron very much!
Bodhirose
/ August 3, 2012Loved those times on Sanibel, Captiva and Ft. Myers…I love the gulf waters! Yes, it’s so true…before you know it you wonder what happened to those close times with one another…drifting apart. I’m not so sure we’re meant to stay with one person for ever! I liked that photo too…such a beautiful bird..enjoying the sunset.. :)
Renee Espriu
/ August 4, 2012What a unique way to intertwine ocean life with that of love and how we become connected but just as easily drift apart.
Bodhirose
/ August 6, 2012I thought of drifting in the ocean and how before you know it you’ve moved far beyond where you first started out. Can happen with relationships too it seems. Thanks for coming by.
becca givens
/ August 6, 2012I have very fond memories of Sanibel Island — when there wasn’t much there (in the early ’70s)!! Love seashell and driftwood adventures. Thank you for sharing!
Bodhirose
/ August 7, 2012My parents would go and camp on the beach there back in the 50s…when there really wasn’t much there. :) I loved the shells that they brought home. Some of my happiest memories are from there.
Inside the Mind of Isadora
/ August 7, 2012As i read this I was picturing myself walking along the beach picking those
ver pretty and colorful shells with the morning sun rising to create a new and
spectacular day.This poem painted a lovely day.
Bodhirose
/ August 7, 2012I can’t get enough of those beautiful gulf beaches and those treasured shells that I find there. Thanks, Izzy.
bardessdmdenton
/ August 11, 2012Beautifully descriptive, Gayle, and the last time touched my heart!
Bodhirose
/ August 11, 2012Oh, thanks so much, Diane…I’m glad you were touched by it.
brian miller
/ September 25, 2012oy what an emotional punch there in the end…the shell empty of life as your love…esp in contrast to the beauty of the moments shared…was loving the beach imagery…smiles. felt.
Bodhirose
/ September 25, 2012Yeah, it’s interesting how we can change so much…and before we know it, we’ve lost touch with one another…
Mary
/ September 25, 2012So much can be learned from studying/thinking about sea shells. A very thought provoking work.
Bodhirose
/ September 25, 2012I love their beauty…some are just amazing.
Daydreamertoo
/ September 25, 2012Powerful imagery. Love can and does sometimes end as empty, hollow shells. We drift apart so much without even realising it at times too. Loved this. I have a couple of decorated sand dollars from Coral Springs Florida. Amazed I got them all the way back to Canada without breaking them :)
Sad but lovely poem
Bodhirose
/ September 25, 2012Yes, it is amazing that you got them all the way back home without breaking them…they can be so fragile…I keep one in a shallow bowl…try not to touch it much. :)
It is hard to part with someone…but sometimes it’s best…
ayala
/ September 25, 2012Sad when love dies.. Beautiful images here, love it.
Bodhirose
/ September 25, 2012Sometimes it happens so gradually that you hardly noticed when it happened…change or circumstances take their toll…
Polly Robinson
/ September 26, 2012How utterly beautiful ~ and how incredible, finally, as a metaphor for love lost
tigerbrite
/ September 26, 2012Such beautifully penned memories, and sad end…..
Other Mary
/ September 26, 2012This is a lovely metaphor. It works so well, as we generally find shells after then are empty of the critters who make their homes in them. You have a delicate touch with this – sad and wistful.
Anna Montgomery
/ September 26, 2012A thoughtful, engaging, beautifully captured journey that broke my heart. Wonderful!
Sasha Jenna Spears
/ September 27, 2012beautifully composed and love the shell imagery.