First, a footprint, dry and crumbly,
Soon effaced by winds which whisk the
Parched brown grass that shoots up, waving,
By the fence above the tidemark.

Then, an indent, wet and clay-like,
Soon dissolved by waves that wash a
Long dark strip of sand to mark a
No-man’s-land twixt sea and seashore.

Last, a deep pit, soft and slipping,
Soon melted by curling currents;
Rough rock grains scrape the skin, and
Sand covers the sinking footprint.