Find Me Here

Route 6 calls out its siren call

to the steady caravan of tourists.

Not dissimilar at all, really,

from the Grand Canal,

the Champs-Elysees,

Times Square.

An entire geographical place

— compressed —

into a souvenir:

sea creature inflatables, Cape Cod tee

shirts, wind-chimes entangled with sea

shells, nautical-themed shotglasses, all

Made in China.

Find me not there, but here.

On this particular morning:

a handful of gray seals, a flock of Herring

gulls, the imprint of a sea turtle left from

high tide, and only me —

for miles and miles around —

searching for a keepsake

among the polished stones

of the Atlantic.

Photo by Meg B. Allison