Broken shells scatter the shore
Remnants of a people lost
Victims of the tides of fate
Ensconced in sandy shoals, once whole,
Presumed secure and safe
Species coalesce:
Scalloped, spiraled, conical shaped
Along the cobbled strand
The soft life sheltered within
Cast out to the crest of waves
Full of struggle, life was hard
Forces of nature cannot be reined
Hard casings – all that is intact
Diminishing slowly
Shape-shifting
Into grains of sand
The incessancy of the pounding surf
A memorial to a life
Transformed
My fingers search
For fragments that still have shape
A shell glimmers
Strata of color inlaid:
Amber, cobalt, rust and clay
A hole bored through the center
A teardrop in likeness
A fine piece of jewelry it would make
A thing of beauty to adorn my neck
Forged by tumult and storm
A reminder
How tenuous a well-planned life can be