The Beach
Dead sand trickles between my naked toes.
Crushed winter light befuddles borders,
obscures the pier, unsettles the breakwater;
ships labour under dubious cargoes.
Swimmers and surfers, those gritty heroes
of the shallows, have deserted, children,
amateur architects in sand and stone,
fled for comfort to the cheerful shadows.
The deaf land concentrates on revelry
and commerce, ignores the looming triremes,
the insensitive advance of the sea,
its woeful burdens. From nearby, someone
Von Braun or Menelaus maybe, salutes.
Desolate, I raise my shaven head, scream.
Michael Farry was selected for Poetry Ireland Introductions 2011. His poetry collection, Asking for Directions, was published by Doghouse Books in 2012. His poetry has been published in journals and anthologies in Ireland, UK, USA, Israel, Australia and Canada.