Building Sand Castles: Then and Now

nostalgia, poetry 1 Minute
Unknown-24
Photo courtesy of pxhere.com

Growing up near a beach, I led a child-dylic life of sun/sand/surf

The ocean was my backyard pool; the sand my playground

Near the water’s edge, the consistency of that granular play-doh

Encouraged childhood architectural whimsy.

 

We built our castles, carrying water to the construction site in Baby Bear-sized buckets

Not too small to hold too little, not too big to burden our slender frames

The structure, once assembled, cried out for ornamentation.

 

And so the Dribble Castle began to take shape.

Small fingers drip-drip-dripping the moist sand into fabulous pillars, turrets, bridges,

Water scooped into moats suggesting a royal tableau.

We lay in the sand beside these marvels, reveling in the glory of our creations.

 

Then, as the afternoon wore on and the tide shifted,

We watched the waves break closer and closer, wishing the waters away

But knowing well the fate of our hours of work.

A hard lesson to learn young: the inevitability of impermanence.

 

Now, my aging self relearns that lesson every day.

Sometimes it saddens me, sometimes it strengthens me.

Trying to keep my footage, standing firm through ebb and flow,

My mental dribble castle reminds me to reach for the richness, seek out the beauty, hold tight the wonder

The impermanence is part of living, but the pillars, turrets, and bridges may always be rebuilt.

Annie

[Note: I wrote this poem weeks before the pandemic changed everything, so I kept putting it aside to discuss the more pressing issues. But as I reread it, I feel its relevance to me right now–at this time.]

Published by annieasksyou

I've been a nonfiction writer for many years, exploring diverse topics that pique my curiosity, as noted in my first blog posting (Greetings!). I'm seeking dialogue with others committed to joining me in this exploration, sharing my conviction that different views can be exchanged in a respectful, civil discourse where we can learn from one another and be agreeable, even when we disagree. These postings depend for their enrichment on your participation: your ideas, insights, knowledge, opinions, and personal stories.

Published

36 thoughts on “Building Sand Castles: Then and Now”

      3. Hi Annie! We are good here, hoping your family is as well. Missing you and hope we all get through this soon. Thank you, as always for the great posts! Xoxo

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Beautiful piece of writing, Annie. Much to be anticipated in the eventual flooding of the castle most, if I remember correctly. A few glorious minutes of sand bridges and towers overlooking sparkling water before the inevitable crumbling!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Leave it to you, Matthew, to enhance my poem with your lyrical imagery!
      FYI: This morning, I was able to access your author’s interview, which was filled with provocative thoughts. I liked it on the interviewer’s site, but when I went to yours, I got the reading “Page not found.”

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. That is extraordinary! Wrapped around my awe at his creativity and huge talent was a sense of gratitude that his works won’t be washed away by the waves. But as I’m a worrier, I started thinking about earthquakes and fracking. Never mind—it’s wonderful to see his genius. I’d love to visit…but I wouldn’t want to live there. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to enjoy.

        Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s