Jetsam

Whitesands Bay

Far-flung exotica

have washed up on the beach.

And so have I

with my courgette pie

and pomegranate juice.

All strange together, we sit.

An orange plastic glove,

half sunk in seaweed tagliatelle

is tangled with fishing line

into a thumbs up sign.

I return the gesture,

then check the bay

in case I’ve been spotted

communing with jetsam.

All over the beach

small shells tug themselves

from wet sand,

drag smartly in silken lines

no roots, no baggage,

just living...

till the next tide.

Like those people

picked up by the moon.

They leave their keys,

their kids, no note, no trace,

begin all fresh again

with a new name.