he confronted his ghosts on a white shore
knelt bareheaded on the scorching sand
watched those spectres approach
in that featureless white hot land
a line that seemed to extend to eternity
closed a circle that had extended wide
into a such a compact small space
with himself trapped there inside
judged
silent spectres from a past life
for the most part pure and clean
had there been so many occasions
when he had been so cruel and mean
silently they stood stone faced
just beyond his farthest reach
and he felt their pitiless looks
on that nonland ocean beach
sentenced
and he felt a wave of pity
like a silent storm tide
purge and wash his body
as he knelt there and cried
his sins weighed and recorded
his spectres disappeared and gone
leaving him to gather courage
to repent and carry this life on
