original utility by Lisa Lillibridge
walking Scusset Beach at low tide
we came upon a buried boat trailer
submerged and deserted
sadly, no longer transporting anything
no boat ramp nearby…curious
my sandy-kneed observations kept shifting
a salty adventure miscalculated perhaps?Â
oh, the seduction of coastal fog
heightens my investigations
in ways sunshine just never can
later, observing my photos
what I could not see intrigued me
and my mind wandered
as it so often does…
America, personified
allegory, metaphor, or perhaps, punchline
in need of rescue and repair
while other nations
adapting to their shifting tides
ignore what’s beneath our surface
our nation’s collective principles
hopefully preserved
waiting to be exhumed
and one day
restored to original utility
