Walking Along Glass Beach

Maria DePaul

Walking in the California Surf, scattered confetti
On the ground looks like rocks.

Called “Mermaid Tears,” a legend says that
They were shed for sailors lost at sea.

Millions of pebbles of all colors form
Beauty born of industrial pollution.

Bits of broken bottles and waste glass from
a long-closed factory are polished by white caps.

Detritus forgotten as disposable, turned for
Decades in waves, is collected oceanside.

Travelers take what was once castoff,
Now so valuable that they must replenish it.

Jettisoning more waste glass into the
Surf recreates the manmade biome.

Sea stars and crabs live in tidal pools
As birds and seals raise families here.

Poppies and wallflowers fill the cliffs
As nature survives our encroachment.