The beach at sunset

The beach at sunset

We sat down together on the sea wall, you and I.

Birds flew, boats sailed, homeward, purposefully,

as an orange-red blush emblazoned all the sky,

and the sun’s gold disk slipped into the sea.

We sat down, separate, as a me and you,

and watched beach revellers packing up their day,

dogs walking their people, joggers pounding through,

together, watching, with nothing much to say.

Yet as the glorious sunset blush took hold,

and the sky and sea were tinted in turquoise,

the sense of I, you, them and that dissolved,

replaced by one, in perfect equipoise.

Then I and you returned, and all that’s left is this

memory, yearning and an aftertaste of bliss.

© Tina Shettigara 2015