I rode down to Fort Fisher to take a walk by the ocean. It was Saturday afternoon. I wanted to smell the salt air and see that big pond. I carried my notebook because, well, you never know. This poem came out while I was standing just behind the big rocks.

People just looking
Peering out at the ocean
Seemingly endless water
Infinite horizon.

Hearing the waves
Seeing them roll onto the shore
Nice and easy today
Almost still.

We’re all doing the same thing
Pausing for a minute, sometimes longer
Sitting on the rocks
Standing holding hands.

Mostly quiet
Reflective
Catching a glimpse of the dolphins
Breaking the surface in their easy arc.

I felt connected to everyone
It was the oneness in our attention
In our feeling of smallness
Next to this great wide and powerful open space.

Back to our cars, ready to move on
Eventually dispersed into the sea of humanity
With salt clinging to our clothes
And that feeling of oneness in our hearts.