Progress Poem by Stephanie Collins

That Single, Solitary Grain of Sand
sticks to the sandal that tread upon it.
Feels elated; it has finally found a way to
escape
it’s lifelong confinement
on that one beach.

It is now free to roam
Not as the wind once took it;
but anywhere that sandal may go.
And as time goes on that little grain
will move deeper and deeper
into the recess of that sandal.

Clinging on
even through the bumpy patches
and the occasional puddle.

That speck of sand will see numerous other beaches
see other specks of sand
and, of course, be thrown around many a time.

And that sandy dot will stay firmly in place
until the day you figure it’s time to clean those sandals,
gently washing away their unneeded cargo
onto the hard, black world of the pavement outside your doorstep.

But here is a world more closely connected to civilization
where any one sandal can pass by
and unknowingly carry this vulnerable little gem
through another journey of it’s life.


(June 2009)