The Beach to Me

Waves slosh silently over the sand.

Soaring seagulls spy meals down on the land.

Seashells are swaying with the waves.

A gentle wind today behaves

wafting the smell of sweet salt spray.

Worshiping the sun, people lay

with slathered skin to soak the rays.

Children sit in sand and play.

Sharks, and jelly fish swim beneath the waves

waiting with anxious jaws, and sharp teeth

for an unsuspecting swimmer to eat.

Personally, I am not an ardent admirer

of prostrating my body on the burning beach.

My epidermis is adequate the way it is,

without ultraviolet radiation carcinogens

metastasizing mutant melanoma

to create a darker pigmented protective organ.

I want not to propel myself through salty liquid

with man eating animals waiting to sting, or bite me.

Becoming part of the food chain is not my fantasy.

Blistering sunbeam alchemy brings only agony.

I am not a beach bunny.

I like to swim,

but a pool is fine

in the evening

when the sun is kind.

by:  Paula D. Nevison