A visit to an unencumbered beach
a stage setting for damnation or salvation
difficult to determine which
as the wind, fierce and secretive, slaps my face,
the sand, however, is consoling but reticent.
I look at two seashells
and wonder which is older
as if I could extract the wisdom
of the older one
if only I were certain.
I hurl one of the seashells
into the mysterious ocean
and as I watch the seashell
enter the water
I suspect I have thrown the wrong one
losing a last chance
at the truth of seashells
and the ocean's mysteries.