Beach Collage – Scenes from North Beach, Salt Spring Island, & China Beach, Vancouver Island B.C.
Walk the Beach
Set crickets flying
from crabby grass and weeds
shimmering on the sandy foreshore.
Hop logs of driftwood forest
clamber over algae-green rock
tricky as black ice.
Crunch broken shells
jingle the shingle
always at an angle.
Spring-step spongy
blackened sea grass
squish onion bulbs of kelp.
Take off shoes
let soles read
Braille of wave-print sand.
© 2014 by Violet Nesdoly (all rights reserved)
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I sometimes still pinch myself, prairie transplant that I am, that I live near the ocean and the beach! As residents of the B.C.’s southwest corner for 30+ years, we’ve often indulged our fascination with the ocean by vacationing near it. The photos above were taken in the summer of 2012 on Saltspring Island and Vancouver Island beaches.
This post is part of Poetry Friday, hosted today by Carol and Carol’s Corner. (Thank you, Carol, for giving me the idea to post this poem with your beach poem!)
Violet Nesdoly / poems 
kendawn@sasktel.net
June 6, 2014 at 10:41 am
OOOOOOOh, refreshing… I want to be there! Well written, I AM in dAWn E.
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Violet Nesdoly
June 6, 2014 at 11:21 am
Yes Dawn, me too!
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mattforrest
June 6, 2014 at 11:30 am
I’ll be doing all those things in just over week! Nicely done.
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Violet Nesdoly
June 6, 2014 at 12:20 pm
Thanks Matt – and lucky you! Have fun.
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Julie Larios
June 6, 2014 at 12:19 pm
Ah, Violet – you and I love the same kind of beach! Driftwood, rocks, broken shells, and those “onion bulbs of kelp”…so beautiful! Thanks for sharing your poem.
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Violet Nesdoly
June 6, 2014 at 3:32 pm
Julie, I think our beaches in this part of Canada are similar to yours near Seattle — undeveloped and beautiful!
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Carol Varsalona (@cvarsalona)
June 6, 2014 at 1:17 pm
Violet, I enjoyed viewing the pictures before reading the poem. Last stanza was well said. My poem was submitted late but hopefully will be posted.
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Violet Nesdoly
June 6, 2014 at 3:33 pm
Thank you, Carol! I have so many pictures from our visits to the beach, it’s hard to pick a few. I’ll look forward to reading your poem in the next hours!
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kiwiskan
June 6, 2014 at 2:07 pm
lovely – my favourite pastime
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Violet Nesdoly
June 6, 2014 at 3:34 pm
Thanks Kiwiskan. I would love to see your New Zealand beaches. The photos from your blog attest to what a beautiful place it is!
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kiwiskan
June 6, 2014 at 3:51 pm
…all beaches are beautiful. Thanks Violet
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Linda Baie
June 6, 2014 at 2:15 pm
Beautifully shown, Violet. I am envious of your time on the beach. I’ll be on one end of July, & now you’ve made me want it more!
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Violet Nesdoly
June 6, 2014 at 3:35 pm
July will be here before we know it, Linda. Anticipation is a lot of fun too. Are you visiting a coastal beach or a beach at a lake somewhere?
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Catherine Johnson
June 6, 2014 at 2:39 pm
Fabulous poem, Violet. So many fun aspects, I love the braille metaphor.
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Violet Nesdoly
June 6, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Thanks Catherine! I was looking for a photo with inviting wave prints on it, but they are few and far between in my files. There’s nothing like hard ripply sand underfoot that reads Summer, is there?!
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Catherine Johnson
June 6, 2014 at 3:53 pm
And those sand worms
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Laura Shovan
June 6, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Hi, Violet. What a fun collage. And the sounds in this stanza are delicious:
Crunch broken shells
jingle the shingle
always at an angle.
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Karen Edmisten
June 6, 2014 at 6:21 pm
Oh, lovely! Living by the ocean is a dream for me….
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Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
June 6, 2014 at 6:47 pm
What a beachy Poetry Friday we’re having! Love “Take off shoes/let soles read/Braille of wave-print sand.” I’m so ready….
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lsteinglass
June 7, 2014 at 4:08 am
I love that you’ve structured this as a list of instructions. It helps me feel like I’m there too.
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jama
June 7, 2014 at 4:45 am
What great sensory details and diction. Love reading this one aloud! “Squish onion bulbs of kelp”: wonderful!
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maryleehahn
June 7, 2014 at 4:53 am
This is just to say that I have been here and read your words, but surgery on both thumbs last Tuesday prevents me from typing a personalized comment. Forgive me — copy/paste is the best I can do this week! 🙂
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Violet Nesdoly
June 7, 2014 at 7:32 am
Oh Mary, so sorry to hear this! Get better fast. And thanks for coming by to copy-paste.
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Wilcox Carol
June 7, 2014 at 8:04 am
Your poem makes this land-locked sea lover long for beach time. I will be there next Friday, but with 60 middle schoolers, I’m thinking there will be a lot more splashing than walking!
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Violet Nesdoly
June 7, 2014 at 8:28 am
Oh my, my sympathies! I’m sure it will be a lot of fun too… if you don’t count on a lot of down-time for yourself.
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Myra GB
June 7, 2014 at 8:42 am
Those are indeed beautiful photographs. I was at the beach with my family a few weeks back and your poem brings me right back to that beautiful time. 🙂
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margaretsmn
June 7, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Thanks for this walk along the beach. The sounds and smells come alive in your poem. Your beach is very different from the Gulf coast. I’m looking forward to a trip to Seattle in July.
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Violet Nesdoly
June 7, 2014 at 5:41 pm
Thanks Margaret! I hope you enjoy the west coast beaches. I’d love to see the ones along the Gulf coast! Maybe someday.
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