Different Slants

Seeing the World from a New Angle

I’m Standing on a Beach in Southeastern Wisconsin…by Robert M. Katzman

Filed under: Bewilderment,Life & Death,Trees,Wisconsin stories — Bob at 3:07 pm on Friday, September 8, 2017

by Robert M. Katzman © September 8, 2017

I’m standing on a beach

In Southeastern Wisconsin

And the waves are rolling in

Rolling in without exception

And each wave is a mirror

A mirror of the thousands

Waves like an invasion

A war upon our beaches

*****

Each assault against the sand

Churning up a cloud of prisoners

Who are sucked back in the rear

Of those thousands of waves

And the beach is disappearing

And the trees meant to withstand

The wave’s endless hunger

Keep falling at their posts

*****

Ripped out and torn asunder

Wood all bleached and dying

Leaves still on their branches

Each one never knowing that

This Fall will be their last one

Soon will go the dunes with their

Tall grasses meant to hold them

But those grasses won’t hold them

They can’t protect the beaches

*****

As those waves keep rolling in

Rolling in without exception

Five million people in Wisconsin

But none of them are here with me

To see their state is disappearing

As I watch the shore being bitten

As if by blind insatiable creatures

Whose appetite will never

Never be satisfied

My God, what is happening?

*****

I’m standing on a beach

In Southeastern Wisconsin

And the waves are rolling in

Rolling in without exception

And each wave is a mirror

A mirror of the thousands

Waves like an invasion

A war upon our beaches

We–can’t–win

***************

Publishing News! 

Bob Katzman’s two new true Chicago books are now for sale, from him! Vol. One: A Savage Heart  and Vol. Two: Fighting Words

Gritty, violent, friendship, classic American entrepreneurship love, death, heartbreak and the real dirt about surviving in a completely corrupt major city under the Chicago Machine. More history and about one man’s life than a person may imagine.

Please visit my new website: https://www.dontgoquietlypress.com If a person doesn’t want to use PayPaI, I also have a PO Box & I ship anywhere in America.

Send me a money order with your return and contact info. I will get your books to you within ten days. Here’s complete information on how to buy my books:

Vol 1: A Savage Heart and Vol. 2: Fighting Words My books weigh almost 2 pounds each, with about 525 pages each and there are a total together of 79 stories and story/poems.

Robert M. Katzman Don’t Go Quietly Press PO Box 44287 Racine, Wis. 53404-9998                                                                                                                    (262)752-3333, 8AM–7PM

Books cost $29.95 each, plus shipping

For: (1)$3.95; (2)$5.95; (3)$7.95; (4)$8.95 (5)$9.95;(6) $10.95

(7) $11.95; (8) $12.95; (9)$13.95 (10)$15.95 (15)$19.95

Shipping by air to most of Europe, due to the weight of my books is $99.00

I am also for hire if anyone wants me to read my work and answer questions in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Schools should call me for quantity discounts for 30 or more books. Also: businesses, bookstores, private organizations or churches and so on.

My Fighting Words Publishing Co. four original books, published between 2004 and 2007 are now out-of-print. I still have some left and will periodically offer them for sale on my new website.  My hour-long story reading at WGTD 91.1 NPR Kenosha, Wis is now a podcast. The interview and story can be heard here:

Speaking of Our Words June 30th, 2017 With special guest star and featured writer Bob Katzman. Bob reads his memoir, “Audrey, Pink Bunny Slippers, Her Cat and the God’s Eye”. Your comments are welcome, below, and please tell others I can be found here as a writer.

I can also be hired as a speaker for organizations, etc, both here and in Europe. Seeking an agent.robertmkatzman@gmail.com Poet & Storyteller for hire for organizations, schools or private events   www.DifferentSlants.com to view recent and older examples of my work

Preview YouTube video Speaking of Our Words June 30th, 2017

5 Comments »

Comment by Brad Dechter

September 8, 2017 @ 3:31 pm

Bob- the world is a giant recycler. Why don;t you focus too on the inverse- what the items carried away from the shore then build?
You could call the poem the Dechter Theory of Positive Inversely.
Brad

Comment by Charlie Newman

September 8, 2017 @ 6:41 pm

Well-done, Bob.
Ever notice we humankind can’t win the most important wars?
Proof that God/Mother Nature/whatever was/is no fool.
No matter…good work, Pal!

Comment by Joel R

September 9, 2017 @ 5:25 am

Nice work, Bob. Particularly relevant as I am on the shores of Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay, watching much of the same. Well said.

Comment by b matteson

September 10, 2017 @ 12:43 am

i am standing on my cousins porch in cardiff by the sea, looking at the pacific sunset. words fail me. miss you. b

Comment by Don Larson

September 11, 2017 @ 12:24 pm

Hi Bob,

Change remains constant along with entropy.

In the beaches near me here in Carlsbad, CA have the same cycle. The erosion on the Sunset Cliffs near Tamarack and Hwy 101 bear testament to the onslaught. They’ve eroded over 20 feet in the 21 years I’ve lived here.

Warmest regards,

Don

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