Prim poodles and Pekinese cram
Ribboned prams
Pushed by grandmothers thrust from their homes
Children and families demanding liberty
Nudging their elders into invisibility
Grandparents who fear their minds soon empty
Like their hearts
They speak more with dogs than grandchildren
An air kiss every night
For both
Each dawn they propel their canine infants
Towards the blue rollers of the beckoning sea
Smiling to savor the white sun’s embrace
Bright light for darkening eyes
Warm air for chill joints
The tolling sea chimes
Circling from green tides to grey beach
Pushed by cycling heat that drives
Every spare particle of earth and sky
At sunset the grandmothers sense the pull of the waves
Squinting to see the exact spot
Where everyone vanishes
But the climbing waters rush on
The melting ice spreads and surges
Till elders, pets and prams
Disappear to their homes below