Crunch crunch

I look down

There’s a bunch

Mostly white but some beige

They’re resting fittingly next to the waves

Silent

Pinpointed, swirly, fanned, spiraled

Thousands

Mesmerizing

I feel like a child

My Golden retriever floats along the sand

He smiles as he runs

Paws crunching what’s beneath

I’m glad we’re here and free

On the drive home we’re hit head on

I don’t make it

But my pup does

I’m shattered like the seashells

The EMTs find some in my pockets

My husband has them now

My pup smells them and thinks of me

On my last day I left the dishes undone and the floor unswept

To take him to the beach

Strangely I thought of that as I died

But it wasn’t something to regret

I spent my last hours at the beach with my dog

We played in the surf and went for a jog

I looked at the shells

And listened to what the hermit crabs and seagulls tell

I didn’t expect the sudden end to happen

But I’d thought about it when I read the obituaries that morning

In some ways a warning

A girl younger than me with ovarian cancer

A baby born still

A young man shot

Know today may be all you’ve got

So my husband and dog now go to the beach

They enjoy the thrill

They hear and see the shells

I’ve got a hunch

Our bodies are like shells

Housing souls

Between the chores and busyness

Treat them well

Before the final crunch