Pemaquid

Middle-aged couples wade through
the dark water, hand in hand,
whispering their old secrets for only the wind to hear
Radios buzz from the opposite side of the beach
where the mothers hide their figures in plush towels
and their children carelessly swim out too far.
The teenage girls toss their sunbleached hair
and rub lotion on their legs,
grinning as young male eyes wander to their beach blanket.
The smell of french fries and hamburgers fills the humid air.
Paper plates and cups already litter the sand.
Jet skiers, plowing through the mist,
captivate the little ones, who long for a ride.
Gray seals duck down just out of sight,
and unseen fish make even the bravest boys jump.

Here at Pemaquid the days never end,
and summer never fades away.
Long after the cute boys, suntanned girls,
weary parents, and exhausted children pack up and abandon the beach,
brushing away the sand from between their toes,
the gulls return.
They eat the remains of greasy french fries.
They swim out farther than any of the children dared.
And they lounge together on the beach, taking their leisure,
kings and queens now and forever
of the sand, the water, the beachworld.

---

Colleen S. Connell, Age 14
The Center for Teaching and Learning
Edgecomb, Maine
Teacher: Nancie Atwell