wool blanket on rough sand

i sat on a sunny beach
alone but for sun and gull
to mull the tide and time
the words unchosen, my friends that died

i spoke in wind-swept wordless tears
until the moon with oh'ing yelp
deigned to help me learn
burnt offerings of  ocean wave

the ushered evening resting
on the coarse gloucester sand
understanding death and faith
a wraith hovered with my one last breath

i sat on a rain starved beach
alone but for sun and sin
to win the crab, the mussel
then to wait for tide to come again

I spoke in pebbleful shells
until the gulls had left me
to be the manless moon and prayer
that here and there mighty croon

the welcome dawn alive
upon the glass smooth sea
unknowing life and hope
a rope to save me from gray atlantic knife