(.....01july13) Seal Beach Pier Poem by Max Reif

1. The Public Pier

Here beyond the screaming beach,
the volleyball and surfers,
the fishers try
to pull something
alive from the veiled
depths, and some succeed.

Fearless pre-teens
leap off the railing,
then bob like seals
amid the light beams
dancing on the green surface.

Ruby’s Diner, at the far end,
half a mile toward Catalina,
gets $8 a cheeseburger.
and the trash boat
gurgling away from its dock
seems to signify that some,
at least, have taken that bait.

We’re neither land nor sea here,
neither fish nor fowl,
though both fish and fowl
are all around us
out on this
island in the sky,
this bridge
to nowhere
and everywhere

2. The Poets’ Pier

The poets line the pier,
pens dangling out
over the green depths.
Poker-faced, they stand
or sit on benches.
Every now and then
a line tugs,
a pen dips,
a poet
pulls something up
and over the rail.

Shining, exotic,
the poem flops on the deck.
The poet smiles,
and the others,
not so fortunate
yet today,
keep their watch
out toward the sea.