Tidal Pull

She looks for a hero in the seaweed—
Anyone to rescue her
From the sand encircling her fears.
The wet leaves slip through her fingers, though,
Slick with their own past.
She tries to break off a strand
But the sucking sand has weakened her
And flies swarm up
To protect their home.
Saddened
She retreats along the shoreline
And watches the foam
Slowly kiss her hero
Back to the sea.
The sand whispers,
“Forever.
“Forever.”



navel

orange wedges
huddle
to protect their nakedness
rags of their skin
cling to the outside
trying to replace
the safety of the peel

but even in a gentle world
their juice is too tempting

I pull out a wedge
and isolate it
in its shyness
(it curves like a woman’s arch)
I take its juice for my own

I will give it my skin, now,
for protection

Bob McHeffey is a high school English teacher in San Diego. His poems have been published in The Comstock Review, Cider Press Review and Poem, among others.