Where Timbers Hold Light

About this piece

Weathered timber pilings extend from wet sand into the sea, their diminishing forms drawing the eye toward pelicans near the horizon. Low sunlight spreads gold across the rippled water beneath a broad canopy of blue clouds. The dark vertical posts give the luminous, moving shoreline a measured stillness.

The story

On this February evening, gold gathers along the horizon beneath the weight of blue clouds. A small wave reaches the timbers, circling their barnacled bases with foam. Farther out, pelicans rest above the water, their silhouettes punctuating the line of posts. The wash thins across the sand, leaving a brief sheen in which wood and sky meet.