At the Dog Beach

At the Dog Beach 

On the broad ankle-to-knee shallow

women tuck skirts into knickers

men clasp thongs behind their backs

children skip and splash

dogs stop         and go

twist and splash

greet and flee

On the far edge

beyond the wreck

where the sea floor drops away

and the setting sun golds

the distant silver city scape

a man yells and curses

as his dog frolics

the beach is not yours

he tells another couple

people like you wreck it 
for everyone, he repeats

and curses again

What’s going on,

I ask my companion

who has spent the last minutes

watching the remote-controlled plane

and marvelling

at how long it has stayed aloft

his dog is out of control

he says they say

We search the sunset beach

for a patch of sea

deep enough to wet our dog's back