Category: Beach

Some of these beach haiku were written by random trips to beach.

Most of these are part of a series based on afternoons spent at the beach on Hilton Head Island with my pad out ( a real paper note pad), hoping for words with my iPhone camera handy to add illustration to my thoughts.
I wanted to see if I would be ‘inspired’ by what I saw, by what I heard, by what I smelled, by what I tasted, what I felt emotionally and what I felt tactilely.

Some turned out okay.

Some were too forced.

Some were just bad.

Some did involve some or all of those feelings.

As far as it goes, I guess I was inspired by by what I saw, by what I heard, by what I smelled, by what I tasted, what I felt emotionally and what I felt tactilely.

Please aware that most of these haiku were NOT WRITTEN on the date in the title – for an explanation of this please see The Series link in the navigation table.

6.20.2026 – summer when the lungs

summer when the lungs
of the earth take a long breath
I look for you

Do you know how the dream looms?

how if summer misses one of us the two of us miss summer –

Summer when the lungs of the earth take a long breath for the change to low contralto singing mornings when the green corn leaves first break through the black loam-

And another long breath for the silver soprano melody of the moon songs in the light nights when the earth is lighter than a feather, the iron mountains lighter than a goose down-

So I shall look for you in the light nights then, in the laughter of slats of silver under a hill hickory.

In the listening tops of the hickories, in the wind motions of the hickory shingle leaves, in the imitations of slow sea water on the shingle silver in the wind –

I shall look for you.

Silver Wind by Carl Sandburg as published in Smoke and Steel in The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1950).

On the beach today.

In the listening tops of the hickories, in the wind motions of the hickory shingle leaves, in the imitations of slow sea water on the shingle silver in the wind.

I look for you.

But you took the picture.

BTW, recently talked with my sister who had the opportunity to spend some time on the Gulf of MEXICO and on the Lake Michigan shore.

She noticed that in going to the Gulf to swim, the water was always warm … every day … you could count on it.

On Lake Michigan, the question every day if not every hour is, how does the water feel right now?

A stiff north wind and the water on the beach on Lake Michigan can go from 70s to 60s in a matter of hours.

Today for me, the water was 82.

The air was in the high 80s.

It will be that way all summer long.

And another long breath for the silver soprano melody of the moon song.

6.13.2026 – tell me where all

then tell me where all
past years are and teach me to
hear mermaids singing

Go and catch a falling star;
Get with child a mandrake root;
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the Devil’s foot;
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy’s stinging;
And find
What wind
Serves t’advance an honest mind.

Song by John Donne as printed in The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1918 (1939 edition) but first published the first edition of Donne’s collected poems in 1633.

Back to 1633 when the poem Song was first printed.

Back to 1989 when I finally got to go to the beach by myself for the first time with the lady.

Tell me where all past years are.

6.11.2026 – wings strive toward

wings strive toward
the wind; see how the clasp of
nothing takes her in

Heron Rises From The Dark, Summer Pond by Mary Oliver (Grand Central Publishing: New York, 2003).

So heavy
is the long-necked, long-bodied heron,
always it is a surprise
when her smoke-colored wings

open
and she turns
from the thick water,
from the black sticks

of the summer pond,
and slowly
rises into the air
and is gone.

Then, not for the first or the last time,
I take the deep breath
of happiness, and I think
how unlikely it is

that death is a hole in the ground,
how improbable
that ascension is not possible,
though everything seems so inert, so nailed

back into itself–
the muskrat and his lumpy lodge,
the turtle,
the fallen gate.

And especially it is wonderful
that the summers are long
and the ponds so dark and so many,
and therefore it isn’t a miracle

but the common thing,
this decision,
this trailing of the long legs in the water,
this opening up of the heavy body

into a new life: see how the sudden
gray-blue sheets of her wings
strive toward the wind; see how the clasp of nothing
takes her in.

We live a short walk from what is called the Broad Creek Marina.

A small dock, on a winding tidal salt marsh estuary that cuts deep into Hilton Head Island.

It functions as an inlet where ocean tides ebb and flow, creating a vibrant aquatic hub for recreation, boating, and wildlife.

We got on the dock of the marina the other to find this guy keeping an eye on us and other things.

And especially it is wonderful

that the summers are long

and the ponds so dark and so many,

and therefore it isn’t a miracle

but the common thing,

this decision,

this trailing of the long legs in the water,

this opening up of the heavy body

into a new life: see how the sudden

gray-blue sheets of her wings

strive toward the wind; see how the clasp of nothing

takes her in.

Love that line, the clasp of … nothing.

6.1.2026 – purple – marine pests

purple – marine pests
jellyfish, stingrays … others …
are in the water

According to the United States Lifesaving Association website, for decades, lifeguard agencies in the U.S. and around the world have employed flags to notify swimmers of conditions, to warn of hazards, to identify safer areas for swimming, and to notify beach users about regulated areas. To help ensure global consistency, in 2004 the International Life Saving Federation developed international guidelines for warning flags.

Red – High hazard. Rough conditions such as strong surf and/or currents are present. All swimmers are discouraged from entering the water. Those entering the water should take great care.

Yellow – Medium hazard. Moderate surf and/or currents are present. Weak swimmers are discouraged from entering the water. For others, enhanced care and caution should be exercised.

Purple – Marine pests, such as jellyfish, stingrays, or other marine life which can cause minor injuries are present in the water. This flag is not intended to indicate the presence of sharks.

These guidelines have been adopted, in part, by the International Standards Organization and are endorsed by the United States Lifesaving Association. By consistently following these warning flag guidelines, lifeguard agencies can help ensure a universal understanding of their meaning and thus improve their effectiveness.

These flags are only approved for use on beaches where lifeguards trained to USLA standards are on duty. Flags are not an acceptable substitute for properly trained and equipped rescuers, but rather a tool for their use.

To be fully effective, the use of warning flags to notify the public of current hazard levels should be consistent, based on objective, measurable criteria that can be logged and tracked, and then changed as conditions change. They should be accompanied by good public education efforts to explain the meaning of the flags flown.

In the photo above, you see BOTH the yellow flag for moderate surf as well as the purple flag for marine pests.

The last line under the Purple Flag is the best.

This flag is not intended to indicate the presence of sharks.

I learned that there is a test down here for the prence of sharks.

Put your finger in the water and then put your finger in your mouth.

If it tastes salty, there are sharks nearby.

Growing up on Lake Michigan we had neither sharks nor marine pests.

I did experience the Alewife Explosion on the Great Lakes in the late 1960’s which took place because, according to the US Geological Survey, these invasive, saltwater fish are poorly adapted to the lake’s fresh water and struggle to handle sudden water temperature changes. When they undergo the stress of spring spawning or face dropping temperatures, their weakened bodies succumb to “osmotic shock” and they die by the millions.

I can attest to the dying by the millions as every morning the beach was cover with dead fish and our morning chore was to rake the beach and bury the fish.

There are no tides on the Great Lakes and the fact that twice each day the beaches here in South Carolina are stripped and power washed and resurfaced appeals seems to be worth the purple flags, stinging marine life and risk of sharks.

5.31.2026 – is no way one can

is no way one can
anticipate accurately
such wreathing vapors

The clouds were swift-moving, and I made a series of exposures.

There is no way one can anticipate accurately the positions of such wreathing vapors;

one situation appears worthy of an exposure —

and then appears another situation that seems even better.

From El Capitan, Winter Sunrise in Examples : the making of 40 photographs by Ansel Adams (Little, Brown: Boston, 1983).

This are images of a storm front over Port Royal Sound as viewed from Fish Haul Beach on the northern most edge Hilton Head Island on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

The clouds were swift-moving, and I made a series of exposures.

One situation appeared worthy of an exposure.

And then appeared another situation that seemed even better.

There is no way one can anticipate accurately the positions of such wreathing vapors.

And let me saw (and I have said this before) in NO WAY can I or DO I compare or imagine that my shots with an iPhone could be included in any honest discussion of the work of Mr. Adams … but, be that as it may, I am also the guy who edits Shakespeare into my definition of Haiku … so there you are.

But I get the girl in the end so all’s well that ends well.

For some reason, I just discovered the simple majesty of that phrase.