ACROSS THE ROAD FROM HEARST CASTLE

Grape myrtle screens picnic tables.
Eucalyptus and bay leaf drench the air.
A pier fingers its way through turquoise
toward the Pacific.
Red and yellow starfish
lie dying and drying on columns.

In the water below,
mermaid locks of kelp
tangled in the pilings
cling and flow,
throbbing in desire for the bay.