I stand on the ocean shore, watching the waves go by. The sun is going down but I don’t leave. I will stay out on the ocean shore. Seagulls fly overhead, they land down on the beach. Their far-off cries bid the day good-night. Out in the sunset I see dolphins leaping through the waves. Their turning, jumping transforms the setting sun into the start of a new day. They call out to me and I long to join them in the freedom that is the sea. Sunset is a dark, purple haze, recalling everything that is beautiful. I grab a boogie-board and float along with the water. A giant wave comes over me and I tumble head over heels underwater. In the sea I am a new creature. When I return to the surface I laugh out loud. I look up and see the first stars. The sky is becoming black. It is time for me to be going. Tomorrow I’ll come back and watch from the ocean shore. William Ilgen, 9Berkeley, California
Poetry-Nature
Morning Walk
The acorn woodpecker’s Thump on the tree And the owl’s hidden hoot Fill my ears as I walk Through forest on a Sun-filled morning Canadian geese calls Sound like laughter As they fly into the Lake with a splash And swim peacefully One after the other Manzanita trees and bushes Are a deep red-brown Covered in lichen and moss. Storing the sun in their veins, Green leaves are lit from inside Towering oak trees Stand in silence, moss Like an old man’s beard Hanging from aged branches. Poison oak climbs the trunks, “Leaves of three, let it be” Everything is part of everything And I am the tree, soil and sun. Breathing in, I inhale The life around me, Breathing out, I reach to meet myself To live in this moment Is to be grateful For what I have and love and am Mark Roberts, 13 Windsor, California Mark wrote this poem when he was 11
The Tide of Happiness
I was pulled up, Only to be sucked back down. The sea lurched and charged! My hand reached to clasp my father’s. Instead I dove With a new strength, Fooling the incoming wave. As I surfaced, Gasping, laughing, My father’s hand met my own, And together we ducked, The sand churning beneath our feet, While happiness knocked me over. Mira Bernstein Kaufman, 11Woodbridge, Connecticut
