Sandcastles

SANDCASTLES Days off when I didn’t have to teach Used to take the boys to the beach Instead of wrastling To do some sandcastling Moats, bridges - very elaborate, Tunnels, canals, walls, gate. Kept ‘em busy all day. Enjoyed it greatly : work - but play. Sweating, like pyramid builders, toiling; Or colony-ants embroiling. Some digging seaweed, some filling, Others for flat stones searching: The stones for revetment, Seaweed for reinforcement. At last they took shape Palaces of sand across the beachscape, Like Babylon, Rome or Troy Invincible, impossible to destroy. Late in the day tide started to creep, Recovered from its short-lived sleep, Coming to wash all away, As if it never existed all day. We decided we were not saddened, Simply interested when it happened. Another castle could be built tomorrow - No tears no sorrow. Be satisfied with the product resulting. Be justified in exulting. We learned how to work, organize, plan, Build, achieve, enjoy effort, become a man. Accept the inevitable end with tide. But the memory, the lesson will abide Sandcastles go, but experience stays - Cant be wiped for the rest of your days. Sandcastling’s not a product with fail or success A life spent with the kids is a tide-proof process . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Written by Sydney Peck Entered in Gail Doyle's Contest Sandcastles By The Seashore