Shara Faskowitz, _Seaside at Summer's End

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Seaside at Summer's End
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Wind sighs against the rail,
boards sag, and under passing foot
emit a weary creak.

The laughter's gone, the radio,
the smells of coconut, banana,
songs of sizzle, crack, and scrape.

No thrumming wheel, no shriek
from Sam's Amusement Pier:
the tilt-a-whirl untilted, locked.

The frozen custard stand shut tight,
no soft-serve to be sold, and no light
shines from Lion's Tattoo Stand.

On the beach the waves still break.
The birds have taken back the sand:
Pipers skitter, seagulls dropping clams

on rocks swoop, snatch meat, land,
and gulping eye the seascape
once again alone at summer's end.

.................................
Shara Faskowitz
.................................