At Rissers Beach Interpretive Centre
       

Plaques
and sun-bleached photographs

taken from a plane
—the beach, thick crowds

on cloudless days.
Behind the clouded plexiglass

a mermaid's purse
and withered crab,

bits of plastic grass,
bright creatures made with tack

and model paint
—a little beach encased

beside the beach,
sand gathering dust.

Next door, clapboard
flaked like rust.

The showers took quarters,
drains chugged sand,

latex filled the cracks
along the floor.

The canteen sold
fried clams, Orange Pineapple

and Mint Chocolate Chip.
Rebar held the breakwater,

fingering the concrete dirty red.
The real thing,

they didn't show that.
The bottom was the hollow

of a sky. Birds swam there.
Fish came down for air.

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Copyright © 2021 Michael Goodfellow All rights reserved
from Prairie Fire
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission