...skipping sand dollars

A memory in free form

low tide pulling away
we ran barefoot as overcast clouds rolled
silently overhead
It was a June afternoon
Kye Bay
driftwood logs
peachy pink crab skeletons
Nature litter
gulls chuckling at a distance
cored our fingers into the marbled black and grey sand
digging out sand dollars
clasping grainy sopping mounds of those black fuzzy disks
their quietness like the skies
feet fronds sweeping slower than slow motion
and it slowed us for that moment
you and I
you said you wanted a pure white sand dollar
We only ever found live or half dead ones that day
and the tide pushing back towards us with
familiar urgency to race to the rocky waterline
We skipped those sand dollars
on the moving water
They sank with a wobble
Salt on my lips
Sky in your eyes
Instead of burying each one back into the infinite
Let each one that day feel what it was to fly
as you have now
Flown
Away
My brother
My sand dollar skipping brother
that tidal moment
Black Frisbee fun
the sun cracked through the thickest cloud
As we drove along the airport road
You did skip them further than I
Yeah little brother, you won that time

Author's Note

Ignore all grammar... Thank you for stopping by to read about this moment with my only sibling Aaron. He died in a car crash in 2005.

Reviews

[Michael G. Smith]

What are you talking about "ignore the grammar"? This was one heck of a story! Everything came together here like perfection. I think you hit every sweet spot because I was not able to break away from this vivid mastery. Believe me, I don't give out praises easily. They have to be earned as they are here. I went away from this feeling the closeness that you share with your brother. This also reminded me of my poem "My Dad" if you care to read it. Also, you wrote "thickest clouds", but check out this word that means the same thing "Thickset". To me it sounds more poetic and ever since i stumbled upon it I use it to replace "thickest". Regards- Mike

[DaniElle LaPointe]

THANK YOU so much for the lavish review :D I will read your poem very soon :D

[Michael G. Smith]

Actually my poem is called Remembering dad. You are welcome.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Danielle, you are such a good free prose writer. This poem is beautiful in its flow and balance and content. It provides such vivid images of that moment in time and is a beautiful if poignant tribute to your brother's memory.

[DaniElle LaPointe]

Thank you John. Do you have any grief focused pieces? Perhaps one in memory of a grandparent?

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I have only written on grief of loss in relationships. I wrote two pieces about my mothers death.

[Robert Newton]

I used to love skipping sand dollars with my son...great memory to have for me. Thank you for bringing it back. It's a great memory for you too. Painful in splendor.....

[DaniElle LaPointe]

Thank you Robert. Please share a read request with me. I would love to read nite of your work :D

[Sami Khalil]

Flown
Away
My brother
My sand dollar skipping brother
that tidal moment .
My favorite in this nice well penned poem...:)

[DaniElle LaPointe]

Thank you Sammi. Please share a poem with me, especially if you have one about loss :D

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome. I wrote one today about my lost childhood in a civil war. It is called : Love...upon dispersed clouds...:)

[Sami Khalil]

:)............................

[DaniElle LaPointe]

Okay, I'll look for it :D

[Sami Khalil]

:)............................

[An owl on the moon]

Beautiful, bittersweet hushings of memory... what a glimpse at a treasured moment of life... one to repeat over and over.

[DaniElle LaPointe]

CRAIG! You stopped by! I was hoping you would like this one :D

[An owl on the moon]

I always, always, always love your inspirations!!!! And not just cause I love all things Canadian either! You always inspire me, dear friend... :)))))

[Marc]

:(
Very sad but well done.

[Buddhistboy73]

Boy. This is such a beautiful, heartfelt write. I can only imagine what it feels like to go through such an experience. I hope that it inspires you to continue writing poems of this nature. This is such a lovely piece...with vivid imagery of childhood times on the beach...:)boy, I almost lost it at the final line too......the sibling rivalry turned beautifully into a final line.
BB

[DaniElle LaPointe]

Thank you BB... Do you have any grief focused poems I may read?

[Holly Mason]

what a lovely sea day-I have never tried to skip a sand dollar sounds fun
the title got me the content moved me
I was left wondering-did you let your brother win?*)
very interesting filled with lovely descriptions
thank you for sharing

[DaniElle LaPointe]

Thank you Holly! Do you have any poems I may read that share thoughts about someone you have lost? I like to write about grief.

[Holly Mason]

Night Crawl-in a way but it was my most horrible life loss