man pats sand

pat the sand
tell the earth to behave
to be nice

behind this darkened
windswept beach
a set of lights
climbs into the sky
banks and heads south

a man
sitting there
smiles and pretends it is
his plane
and he has been
left behind
out of reach
of the highway and
the airport behind him
the city cold to the south
and because he’s close now
to the ocean
to what lies ahead
it’s okay

he pats the sand
tells it to stay beautiful
away from the steel
and the bitumen
and the sand says
why do you assume
that we are separate?
why do you isolate me
from a plane
and the journey it takes
and the memories
it carries
and leaves
like a trail of clouds?

the man looks out
into the black

why do you believe
where you are
is not where
you want to be?
why don’t you
pat me again?

the man pats the sand