Life Enough

I walk barefooted, bareheaded

a long, broad stretch of sand

death, the ocean, on my left

on my right, my lapsed life

scoured dunes crowned 

by crusts of parched earth

barely grasping skeletal trees

exposed roots, leafless limbs

espaliered against blue sky

I serenade seals who swivel 

sleek rounded heads to listen

five scoters, six or seven seals

terns shriek & dive for worms

plovers pussyfoot toward surf

for more than an hour not

one human, once companions

all gone, what remains is sand

is ocean, are broken shells

waterworn stones, birds, seals

let all these be life enough

lest no more is coming