Beyond (on the Beach)

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Somewhere beyond our fire’s glow, 
beyond the pops and hisses of the wood, 

somewhere beyond the cool sand 
covering my feet as I curl and uncurl my toes, 

somewhere beyond my grandfather’s arms 
encircling me as I stand, elbows on his knees, 

somewhere beyond my mother’s laughter, 
beyond my father’s voice 

another voice rolls and rolls with deafening 
softness, rolling from the mouth of a body 

lying spread in starless blackness beyond 
our small circle, calling, beckoning 

with long-reaching arms, inviting us, as it has 
for millennia, for however long circles like ours 

have gathered on this shoulder of earth, 
backs to the dark created by our kindled sparks, 

ignoring the infinite waves, turning instead
to one another.