Tide Pool

 

In a San Diego tidepool
a seahorse splashed around,
he wasn’t supposed to be there—
he’d simply run aground.

His friends and family wondered
where he vanished on that day,
never once suspecting
that a wave washed him away.

He took a peek at tiny crabs
who scuttled through the sand,
and marveled at the anemones
that opened up their hands.

The starfish held their silence,
the mussels hummed a tune,
while gulls above were laughing,
as the tide withdrew too soon.

The sun began to lower,
the water slipped back home,
and seahorse felt a stirring,
and longed for salt and foam.

Another wave came tumbling,
a curl of ocean blue,
it lifted him back to his home
and all the friends he knew,

When he reached his family
they cheered beneath the spray,
and the seahorse told the story
of the tidepool far away.