SUNSET ON WEST BEACH--GALVESTON, TEXAS
David Cowen
streaks of red
like faint scratches on pale blue grass
stretch across the cold sky
while a yellow ball
sifts sleepily into a dark green sea
a wreary traveller pulling a tattered blanket
from a second class motel over his heavy body
a faint wind, a slight sigh, rises
brushing think lines of sand across the flats
sculpting shallow waves
in the grass covered dunes
the sky blackens like the yawn of a big dog,
slow, deliberate stretches
before sinking into a hard slumber
only the soft cooing
of a flock of gulls
like wayward kites
hanging lazily in the dark air
remain of the day
