From sea to seashore, we move from Shirley Smothers' dream to Lamar Hankins' musings on the winter of life, as he strolls along the shore at Matagorda Bay in Texas. Sometimes, even imperfection is a sign that, as Julian of Norwich once wrote: "All is well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
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| Inga Nielsen, iStock |
Beachcombing in Winter
by Lamar Hankins
Beachcombing
on the Texas coast
in Winter
is splendid
Walking with head bowed
searching
the profusion of shells
and the ocean detritus
for familiar patterns
on the canvas of the sand
The air is cool
the surf as cold as a glass of iced tea
in the summer
Beachcombing is a simple pleasure
enjoyable as a solitary venture
made special when shared with
a lover and a four-legged friend
The finds are abundant —
sea glass in all shapes and colors
smoothly worn rocks in many shapes,
like clay playfully extruded through
the hands of a free-style potter
sundials of all sizes
turkey wing arks
angel wings
lightning whelks
coquinas
shark eyes
keyhole limpets
scallops in varying colors and sizes
a duck clam and southern quahog
that yield their delicacies after
twelve minutes in boiling water
an oval corbula
sea snails
baby’s ears
a stout tagelus
a sand dollar—rare on this part of the Texas coast
purple barnacles and more
Once I sought only perfect shells
As I have entered the Winter of my own life
I appreciate the imperfections
in the shells I see
An imperfect sundial is still a marvel
as are we all
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Copyright 2012, Lamar Hankins, all rights reserved.
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