Beach Trip

October 2019 | Best of Net nominee, poetry

Sand is future glass, so get in the car,

fast-forward into the future, and stand

on the giant glass bridge of the beach.

We can listen to the waves while we stare

at the creatures frozen below, encapsulated—

there’s a crab mid-stride and there’s a plastic

cup.  There will always be a band-aid, and we’re lucky—

the washed-up jellyfish is under glass—just

step right on it and laugh.  Mostly there’s just rock, though,

and it’s too hard to sit on all day.  Let’s take the car

to the diner and the past.  Let’s stare out the window

and watch the fish bones and shells, glistening in the sun.

Danielle Hanson

Danielle Hanson is the author of Fraying Edge of Sky (Codhill Press Poetry Prize, 2018) and Ambushing Water (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2017). Her work has appeared in over 70 journals, won the Vi Gale Award from Hubbub, was Finalist for 2018 Georgia Author of the Year Award and was nominated for several Pushcarts and Best of the Nets. She is Poetry Editor for Doubleback Books, and is on the staff of the Atlanta Review. Her poetry has been the basis for visual art included in the exhibit EVERLASTING BLOOM at the Hambidge Center Art Gallery, and Haunting the Wrong House, a puppet show at the Center for Puppetry Arts. More about her at daniellejhanson.com.