BEACH

A small boy at the beach looks up from his play
And feels that his grownup is far away.

For while he's been digging a hole in the ground,
Patting handfuls of sand on top of a mound,

And molding and shaping and getting it right,
His grownup has somehow strayed from his sight.

He looks around now for something he knows,
Like the pillars of wood he saw standing in rows

Out in the sea where a pier used to be
(According to people who are older than he).

But the pillars of wood have moved from their place.
They're farther a-sea, and the boy has to face

That nothing is quite where he left it before.
The ocean is nearer, there's less of the shore.

The boy doesn't panic, scream, cry or run.
He tries to stay calm and waits in the sun.

Now the boy sees that two blankets away
His grownup is dozing, not going away.

His grownup wakes up with a stretch and a yawn
And isn't aware that something was wrong.

They pack up their things and leave as they came.
But the beach for the boy is no longer the same.