Illumination

Sitting on the sand slots of the beach,

counting the waves as the wept for the weening shoreline.

No one comes near these nests,

said the man with sand and clams.

I smiled like a child wanting what was in his hands.

Time flew, those morsels melting on the rocky mountain.

Come see us simmer, they said, those little birds.

I crawled towards their caws up the cliff,

I caught a scent so unreal, like Marlboros and Peppermint.

Rocks and salt, dead fish floating, the birds defecation,

he said smiling like a child who'd kept his secrets hidden.