Sand Castle

Two children meet on a beach;
For their sand shovels reach.
A castle they build,
With dreams it’s filled.

But the filling of the moat
They leave to the sea.
And the sea is pleased:
On the castle he dotes.

He reaches the moat with each high tide,
With each high tide, the moat is complete.
With each low, the heat competes
For the castle’s mastery.

But the sea is afraid:
All efforts to maintain
The castle’s form,
The moat’s fill,

Rest on him;
If he stops reaching,
Will the moat ever try
To come to his watery side?

An experiment he tries:
He’ll stop filling the moat;
Until the moat he notes
At his side, he’ll withhold the rote,
He’ll stay at low tide.

But the moat won’t budge,
And the heat still plays
Until the castle dries up.
And the wind, oh, the wind—

One strand of possible futures
For the castle in the sand,
If nothing is found
That can repair the breach.

© 2014 H.K. Longmore