LYING IN THE SAND

The night was young, I wandered
Down to the sandy beach
The moon, so high above my head
So far above my reach.

The stars were brightly scattered
Like jewels, sparkling in the night
The magnificence of nature
The essence of moonlight.

I walked along the shoreline
The air felt clean and warm
That’s when I found the body
The night after the storm.

Something terribly horrific
Had happened to this man
Found his cold, lifeless body
There, lying in the sand.

Dialed 911 and waited
Two men with flashlights up ahead
The sheriff and his deputy
The kind of call they dread.

This makes the second body
Recovered in three days
The M. E. had been contacted
EMS was on their way.

He’d obviously been dead awhile
He’d washed up with the tide
No wallet or identification
No way of knowing when he died.

They took my information
Glad that I had called it in
Would be worse in daylight
When the kids came out to swim.

I agreed, then simply said good night
I started heading home
Would be awhile before I could
Not think of him, alone.

Lying there unprotected
A victim in the night
No way to know what happened
No way to make it right.

_____________________________

Image from Google Images: pinterest.com

Author: Patty Richardson

Writer: Film scripts, poetry, short stories. View all posts by Patty Richardson