THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR

by Joanna Gilman Hyde

Down On The Hawk Beach 4:15pm

I am sitting beside a rock

and Oh not just any rock —

it’s a rock the size and shape

of a giant brain tumour,

brown and cut apart at the edges —

it doesn’t scare Me anymore

I listen to the waves instead

at My Right —

the rock is to My Left and I will go

away from it

as quietly

as I came upon it