Sandpiper strutting on the seam of the sea
forever in motion
you think you own
the whole wide ocean,
5 the sand and the clouds.
How proud, how proud
are your soldier’s steps and your self-sure nod.
Sandpiper strutting on the edge of the blue
if you only knew
10 that a vast world lies
outside of you
above and beyond
your tiny eyes.
You think you’re tall
15 but you’re small, so small—
as small as a shell,
as brief as the foam of a wave’s soft swell.