Flashlight beam catches Spartina grass
Root systems fracture concrete slow
Logbook entry three AM pass
Tide gauge reads two feet below
Salicornia stores the brine
Limonium paints the splash zone purple
I chart growth on borrowed time
Each species writes its own survival
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Roots drink deep where nothing grows
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Halophyte root in me also knows
Quarter rounds on weathered planking
Fucus spiral on the ladder rungs
Radio static distance cranking
Barnacle crowns where steel has rung
Salicornia stores the brine
Limonium paints the splash zone purple
I chart growth on borrowed time
Each species writes its own survival
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Roots drink deep where nothing grows
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Halophyte root in me also knows
Zostera beds beneath the surface
Phyllospadix blooms in surge channels
No clipboard for this quiet service
Just phenology in night journals
Atriplex spreads its silver leaves
Suaeda drops its seeds in sand
What the storm removes the sea receives
What the salt keeps roots understand
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Roots drink deep where nothing grows
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Halophyte root in me also knows
Dawn breaks over cordgrass meadows
Shift ends where the gulls cry loud
Footprints fade in salt and shadow
Pier stands wrapped in morning shroud
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Roots drink deep where nothing grows
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Halophyte root in me also knows
Saltwind Pier holds its ground
Spartina sways in morning wind
Rooted where the land begins