Sand Lovers
Dru Philippou
 

     finding its way —
first white blossom
     over the ocean

Mother drags me to the lee of a dune . . . explains how the wind carries the sand until it collects, grain by grain, around wood or stone, forming new mounds. On the windward side, the dune is blasted by wind and sea spray. Only the blue-green marram grass holds it together.

She pulls in other worlds: the sand-hills of the Wadden Islands buffer the northwestern European main lands against sea floods . . . New Zealand favors the native pingao sedge and doesn't give way as easily as marram . . . . Cape Cod's dunes are renowned for their indigenous beach plum shrubs.

Mother inhales the salty air, recites Thoreau: "Cape Cod anchored to the heavens, by myriad little cables of beach-grass . . . if they should fail, would become a total wreck. . . ." Suddenly, she falls back into the sand, draws me closer.

     ebb tide —
driftwood entangled
     in seaweed

Dru Philippou was raised in London and now lives in Taos, New Mexico. She is a widely published poet in the haiku, haibun, and tanka prose genres. Awards include the Scorpion Prize: A tie for the best haiku or senryu of issue VI:I 2006, Roadrunner Haiku Journal; twice nominee for the Pushcart Prize, 2006; and an honorable mention in the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Contest, 2008. She teaches online courses in haiku: For information contact: druphilippou@gmail.com<

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