to walk down to the change in tides

(April 2022. I flew home to Swansea MA to see my puppy for a week before working in LA. This poem is not the highest quality but it is personal to me).

to walk down to the change in tides
lower now and i am here
on the wet rocks pebblemuck and shells
at the wetdryedge of the water
receded from earlier but waves louder now
pushing towards me the wind and with
and waldo sitting next to me occasionally digging
sniffing scraping the moist muck and seaweed smelling
and in general at home exploring southern new england
the shore of my tidepool youth

he has just stepped two paws and a nose into the low soft water
the farthest wave repeating
and he was not afraid as he once was of all water.
this is now my son’s home as it was mine.

my puppy is digging manic pawfuls of coarse wet sand in front of me
until he collapsed my whole left foot in the hole
which was his plan all along for attention
the massive hole is making its way towards my right foot
when i laugh he looks around and stops
and dives back in
he’s going nuts again
and i am sitting on a rock
and my laughter vibrates like moonlight
and waves applause

he’s far away now
i can still see him exploring
his whiteness and blackness moving

alone the full moon and i remember
the same darkness in different waters
massachusetts miami the same one day