[Sam]

I read this on SOL. Evidently, this young man was an avid fisherman, hunter and just a fellow lover of the beach. He loved the sharkin as well. This writing really touched me as it will all of you who have spent countless hours on the sand. He would have turned 28 last week. Thank you for the post, derf. You may see the thread here.

"Peace" by Russ aka SuBourbon

I find my peace out on the sand
Beside the sea- not beyond or behind
But on the edge, on the border of foam and grit
Where sandfleas scatter among the crashing froth
And the plovers scurry along in front of each dying wave
Probing after some unseen morsel.

I find my peace in the damp salt air
Blowing in from the tropics or the Stream
Carrying aromas of fish and marsh and memory.
Days long past return as just yesterday,
Recollections triggered by a wafting scent,
Only to dissipate with the changing breeze.

I find my peace in the red-orange sun
Rising from the watery abyss once again as before,
Throwing warmth and brilliance against morning clouds
An endless fantasy fueled by fire-
The phoenix rising again to fly across the sky
And plunge back into the depths.

I find my peace casting among the breakers
With the same hopes of those who fished before me:
The limitless optimism and simple faith
That some morsel of bait or metal trinket
Will bring the surging run of a bull redfish
Or the glimmer of a seatrout in the wash.

I find my peace in thoughts of days gone by
Time spent with friends I may never see again
Images fill my mind on the flood tide,
And with the rising sun, and on the evening breeze
Scenes that can never, will never be repeated
But each time there is one less memory.

Someday the sun will rise, the breeze will blow,
The plovers will run along the tideline,
And I will be just a memory on the breeze.
Perhaps some passing fisherman will see my face
Briefly in the foam, before it scatters on a new wave,
And find his peace out on the sand.