Shoreline - Karen Kellam

[Lawrence Robinson]

Shoreline

Point Arena, 1970’s

From the wild coast across the highway
seals barked us awake at dawn.
We collected driftwood for fire.
I made bread. The artichokes you
planted grew large, their hearts nestled
in spiky purples and turtle belly greens.
A returning sparrow hawk perched
on our swing set eyeing the scratchy lawn.
I remember us younger and strong
not exactly carefree, our children
beautiful and full of joy
and the need of us.
Sunshine played hide and seek
with the wind amid tall redwoods
whose shallow roots stretched
centuries in fog saturated earth.
Deer grazed on the high bluffs
and orange poppies dazzled through
a maze of spring iris.
Once, as though in a dream–
a doe slipped from the cliff
and rode helpless on the waves.
Starfish clung to craggy rocks
bonded in a surge of water on stone–
stone abrading into sand.
And now weathered in age I feel
the lull of on shore breezes
that stir windy memories–
fiery sunsets and plummeting
cormorants when the sights and sounds
of sea, our pacific shoreline, meant home.

	- Karen Kellam
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