Moonstone Beach

Andrea Wagner

Little pebble, I met millions of you at my feet.

My eyes grew wide with green, green serpentine and caramel chunks that glow.

Sunlight pooled inside of you, and you, and you, and you, and...

You I’d like to keep. I scoop you up into my palm.

But there are so many! So many, many, under my knees, my hands. I haven’t even moved.

How can I move, and not panic, seeing a million more?

I’m stepping on them,

I’m stepping on them,

Dad, you’re stepping on the stones, please, I

I can’t collect them, I’ll forget this quartz one, and these ones have stripes, and I just saw red jasper, maybe—I think I did—it was right here, under, here, here, right?

“Hey, have you found your pretty treasures?”

I look at the fistful I managed.

“Yeah. Thanks for stopping the car.”