Driftwood

Small pieces of driftwood on the beach this morning still wet to touch with shapes and smells of salty wonder Cautiously I move Carefully I sift I find a lucky piece on the high tide line lovingly place it in my pocket take it home put it in a special place and watched it for a while It doesn’t change It stays lucky It has a ledge along one side like tongue-and-groove board a bevel on the opposing side and a hole in the centre near the top like a keyhole suggesting that it may have been part of a door A lucky door perhaps or a door to a magic kingdom I feel a bit like a happy dog who has found a new stick or a five year old who has just realised that small pieces of wood can serve some kind of important mystic purpose If only we can work it out We need to work this out Lucky things can often exhibit magical tendencies They fill our imaginations with unique thoughts Adults can only think this way when they think the way dogs and children do We need to get it right Let’s try to get this right And for those of you who don’t believe in magic and feel that magic plays no part in their lives I will perform this small act of verbal prestidigitation I will transform this piece of lucky driftwood into a poem By the power of ancient spirits I cast this driftwood spell for you