Park at the first curve in the road -
Seawright off Central
Pullover till your tires are almost in the ditch –
just under the massive maples and random alders.
You need to run into the ditch and up the steep embankment on the other side.
Take the narrow path between the giant sword ferns –
it'll probably be super muddy.
Just a five-minute walk.
If you're lucky, there's a piece of wood slapped over the mud by a previous beachgoer.
Step slowly. Don't slip.
You'll need your groin muscles to climb the ladder down the cliff face.
A pair of bald eagles nest atop
a giant dead cedar near the beach.
They've been there for years.
If you hear them, you'll know you're close.
Be careful along this section – the terrain changes.
It's a steep incline, and the rocks are slippery.
The cliff's coming up.
There's an old wooden ladder propped up against the cliff face
Be careful climbing down.
Sun blinks through them
strobe-like,
even in winter
when their leaves are all gone.
Pieces of salvaged sunbleached plywood,
ancient candy-coloured paint
still visible
through the sludge of the Earth
An eagle's screech
ushers in a new type of air--
less dense and electric.
The path narrows
a flash of nuclear light temporarily blinds me,
and I lose my balance on the slippery edges of jagged rocks
as I'm hit with the wet shrapnel wind of the crashing waves.
