Breach

All day the waves came charging up and roaring,
And the spray flew. All day the uncrushed rocks
Shook and reverberated to the pouring
Impenitent clashes and agonized shocks
Of the salt water. All day he sat and watched
How the sea shook and flung at the still land,
Wondering whether to be dismayed or smile,
Until an enormous billow leaped and lodged
In him with its acrid foam and guile,
And drove him laughing madly down the sand.


On Shore, by John Vincent Healy