Tag: Poetry About the Beach

Cord Moreski: “Night Swimming”

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine 
Night Swimming 

After working another shift 
in the oppressive Jersey heat 
taking food orders from the privileged 
and counting tips so I can make
my rent that just went up again

any ghost from Roman literature 
would definitely point out that 
I haven’t been very carpe diem
as of lately

so I make my way 
to North End beach 
surrounded by teenagers making out 
past their curfews in the sand
and stoners hot-boxing 
beneath overturned lifeguard boats 

I take off my work clothes 
while this drunken couple 
on the shoreline beside me
continue their post-bar conversation 

about the fate of the world
the fate of us all, fire and ice,
as if they were knocking back 
a few earlier with Robert Frost

they try to ask me what I think
but I’m already diving into the surf 
and by the time I resurface they leave
and all I’m left with is just this darkness 
as I float on the calmness of the water

I don't know what’ll happen I think to myself
but the stars sure do look pretty tonight.

About the Author: Cord Moreski is a poet from the Jersey Shore. Moreski is the author of Confined Spaces (Two Key Customs, 2022), The News Around Town (Maverick Duck Press, 2020), and Shaking Hands with Time (Indigent Press, 2018). When he is not writing, Cord waits tables for a living and teaches middle school children that poetry is awesome. His next chapbook Apartment Poems will be released by Between Shadows Press in late 2022. You can follow Cord here: www.cordmoreski.com

Image Credit: Léon Spilliaert “Beachview at Night” (1905) Public domain image courtesy of Artvee

Sterling Warner: “Ebb & Flow”

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

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Ebb & Flow

I.
Amber beer bottles
back floating on turbid tides
some corked carrying messages
most reduced to glass shards,
razor sharp edges rounded
by the selfsame sand thrust
over rocks, against cliff faces,
around feet wading shoals.

II.
Bull whip kelp wash ashore
after tempests, sunburned beach combers
pop bulb-like heads before gathering
long tentacles, cracking them
like riding crops or cat-o’-nine tails,
flagellating sandcastles & sunbathers
knowing pliable algae’d harmlessly flog
friends & objects of their joyful aggression.

III.
Children tip-toe through flotsam jetsam
scrawl their names in the wet shoreline
place star fish in piles surrounding them
with sea urchins & periwinkle shells
as waves roll in, their creations melt
into a watery fray & they scream
as salty ice hands clutch youthful ankles,
& horseshoe crabs pierce naked feet.

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About the Author: A Washington- based author, poet, educator, word-lover, Sterling Warner’s works have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, journals, and anthologies such as  Ekphrastic Review, A Washington-based author, educator, and Pushcart nominee for poetry, Warner’s works have appeared in many international literary magazines, journals, and anthologies such as  Street Lit., The Ekphrastic Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Fib Review, The Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine, and Sparks of Calliope. Warner also has written seven volumes of poetry, including Without Wheels, ShadowCat, Memento Mori: A Chapbook Redux, Edges, Rags & Feathers, Serpent’s Tooth, and Flytraps (2022)—as well as. Masques: Flash Fiction & Short Stories. Currently, he writes, hosts virtual poetry readings, and enjoys retirement. 

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Image Credit:  Chase Dimock “Seagulls at Sunset” (2020)