Sanderlings quickstep with the waves

shucking and jiving seaside style.

They dip, dip, dip their beaks in the sand

trying to score a crustacean lunch of

crab salad or plankton plate.

On the mud flats the oystercrackers

roam with their red beaks ready for

a salty mollusk meddly.

Tourists line up at restaurants with

names like The Grand Marlin and

Peg Leg Pete’s, but beyond the

dunes and pier Poseidon waits with

his famous trident. It is 2017 and I

stare across the sparkling water

of Pensacola Bay at the Naval Air

Station. I’m missing my daughter,

wondering what she could be doing over there,

because I’m hoping Poseidon decides

tonight will stay calm.