BULLDOZER ON THE SHORE
In the distant lightship’s bland, unwinking eye,
No longer vigilant, closes as the sun,
Flaunting scarlet banners down the sky,
Bursts daylight on the world; and, one by one,
The drowsy seagulls soar
Down-shore.
Out of the quietness of morning, brash,
Snarling, Diesel-powered voices crack
To wakefulness, vicious steel grinds steel, to crash
Engaging gears; the caterpillar track
Carves patterns in the unresisting sands.
The great blade drops; with lumbering, lurching strength
And unrelenting effort, giant hands,
Of careless gesture, sweep, to leave, at length,
A smooth, unbroken swathe across the sands.
The Diesel voices roar
Down-shore.
