chain of shells

I shall make a chain of shells she said

and the boy said Ah

and the girl said Oh

and the two said Me too

(though the girl couldn't help herself and made

an owl instead!)

They

found shells in perfect quarter circles

strewn around the dune—

a bird's finished meal 

they thought

(she imagined it sitting 

back and 

rubbing its tummy with its feathery wings, 

maybe loosening its belt a notch

or two).

The sand

was linked 

with white by white

like the souls of the things

that used to live inside

were holding hands.