“Do chase the ebbing Neptune”*

from the book "Second Journey"

​

 It must be a mistake.

I thought it was a promise,

you would be the last one

left without saying goodbye.

You said it all comes and goes.

When all are gone,

I can dig and dig

like the sandpipers chasing the beach crabs.

​

It was a turbulent storm,

the night you arrived,

you drew a line in the sand

and swore you would come again.

​

This morning, I hurried back,

the line disappeared,

I dug and dug, not there.

At night,

​

*Received an Honorable Mention in the First Annual 2021 Nebraska Poetry Society Open Poetry Contest.