The Wave

(Hammill)
The wave hits the beach, writing words on the sand; to the academic man, this could be the answer....
In fact, its no more than a hunch.
Still we try to eat it -
I think were all pretty out to lunch.
The wave is out of reach, trailing words from the hand only air can understand.
Semaphore on the shoreline, waiting for distance to recede , unhappily imperfect when we should be happy just to breathe.
But with each bated breath, so present, tense, we want to know, we want it sure, it dont make sense!
So Ill do mine and you do yours but lets not trade sand and sea for brick and cement.
The wave hits the beach, laps around abandoned clothes, wants to share a joke with those wholl brave the breakers, wholl break bread rather than pray while the definition- makers lost in the small print of the day.
The words are only pictures that the next wave wipes away.