Lost and found

 

A towel laid on a kitchen counter with about five dozen shells on it, mostly scallops of varying sizes and hues (blues, grays, calico, cream, brown, one gorgeous large orange/peach one), two incomplete large whelks, a couple of shark eye shells, some small white scallop shells, and a few of what I call slipper shells because when you turn them over, they look like bed slippers.

I can hardly walk a beach

without looking down

colors 

textures

treasures

as light and water play

over

under

rattling shells and rocks

like teeth chattering

ice cubes tumbling

dice rolling

maybe I'll get lucky

this time a shark eye

moon snail

scallop

whelk

I dropped one 

while picking up another

then retraced my steps

to find it again

Doesn't matter where I am

New Zealand

Kauai

Lewes

Cape Cod

I look as if I've

lost something

don't have enough

ah but the joy that comes

when attention has been given

I look down

for the same reasons

others look up

wonder

beauty

delight

a whole other world

hope

and hope once more