Morning

It was a morning like other mornings
and yet perfect among mornings —John Steinbeck

On the street behind barriers
squealing kids follow mum and dad

along the boardwalk joggers jostle walkers
among handholding couples.

Shore spume sprints to the tideline.
Sand shifts and settles

unhindered by human feet and towels,
stabs of coloured umbrellas

unimpeded by lolly litter and aluminium cans.
Toe-prints of gulls is all that remains.

Each grain of silica squeaks
liberation.

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Marilyn Humbert lives in Sydney NSW Australia. Her tanka and haiku appear in international and Australian journals, anthologies and online. Her free verse poems have been awarded prizes in competitions, published online, in anthologies and journals most recently in Messages from Embers Anthology, Ethel zine Vol. 6, Black Bough Deep Time 2 and Poetry d’Amour Love Anthology 2020.