Beach Treasure
A Poem by Alina Zollfrank
Velvet ballerina reposes in the sand.
Flippers extend stiffly-strong toward east.
Ribs gawk at the sky where lungs once pumped.
Maroon puddles glisten, revealed skull points west.
Smell eclipses sea brine, primal in its fetidness.
Speckled fur, dulled now, rests in shreds.
Crows claim audience role and demand their money’s worth.
Did the ocean birth her, kill her and then spit her out, unwanted?
She rests among rocks, some still unsure, others settled, smoothed, sunk.
Will she eventually become one?
The bigger one, still-breathing one, circles the waters and stares. Disbelief.
Is it mom?
Four eyes closed in conversation with spirits –
Let’s not interrupt this holy moment.
Death on the beach. Puddled jelly fish, bloated kelp, cracked crab shells.
All this talk about life in the ocean. Actually –
the opposite choreographs the dance.Alina Zollfrank (she/her) dreams trilingually in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has been published nationally and internationally and nominated twice for Best of the Net and The Pushcart Prize. She has more coming up in The MacGuffin, Salt Hill, Thimble, Burningword, Reckon Review, and Sunlight Press. Alina is a grateful recipient of the 2024 Washington Artist Trust Grant and committed disability advocate.
