pebble - a small round
stone that has been worn smooth by erosion.
A little smooth rock.
Pebbles
gather on the beach, softly clicking when waves shuffle them about. Their
surfaces smooth as glass from rubbing against each other. Where did you all come
from? Tiny offspring from the boulders in
the cliff above me. Hundreds, maybe thousands of years of rain washing them
down, down, down, slowly to the ocean. Their
colors are rich in the water - rust, lime, cream, lead, peanut butter and gold.
I choose three and put them in my pocket. In the sun on the beach, the pebbles are
all grey and too hot to touch. They are
too small to skip across the water, small enough to stick to my skin like sand,
but big enough to press hard against my feet when I walk. I have to bend my
body to even the pressure. They swirl around in the water for just a moment
when I lift my foot, gently tapping against my ankle as they settle back to the
bottom. In the winter, they will dance and bounce along the beach while storm
waves crash. New pebbles will arrive with the rain. When summer returns, I will choose three and
put them in my pocket.
(All photos by author unless noted)
(All photos by author unless noted)
