It was so still last night
that sitting on the beach
I could feel no breeze
I could see no waves
I could hear only the slightest touch of water
on sand that lay smooth and clean before me

It was so quiet
I could hear the muffled drone of speeding boats
miles distant
and the cry of the horn
warning them of fog
which was adding a visual stillness
by erasing the line of horizon and change.

A few people walked
but slowly
and talked only
quietly
sometimes silent.

The sun was setting
but not burning
glowing instead
and a sailboat, wakeless and lethargic,
drifted near to–into–out of
the rose path that linked the sun and me.
And then, with enough spectacle for a night of peace,
the sun relaxed back into a bed of clouds.

Text and image © 2010 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.