Beach Musings

I came across the following poem and I felt compelled to share as it describes those of us who wander the beaches…

GATHERINGS by Nina Bagley

We are gatherers,
the ones who pick up sticks and stones
and old wasp’s nests fallen by
the door of the barn,
walnuts with holes that look like
eyes of owls,
bits of shells not whole but lovely
in their brokenness,
we are the ones who bring home
empty eggs of birds
and place them on a small glass shelf
to keep, for what? How long?
It matters not. What matters
is the gathering,
the pockets filled with remnants
of a day evaporated, the traces of
certain memory, a lingering smell,
a smile that came with the shell.