The Damage Done

by Joseph J. Biernacki

The least of imprints are yet seen and felt – they cast a shadow, break the plane, and softly search for help.

Footprints in the firm foreshore

On a lonely, windswept beach

Delicate

Like maidenhair

and butterflies on wings

Abandoned there

Heel to toe, they break the plane

Joyful yet pensive

They reflect their maker

Giving yet empty

Heel to toe, they walk alone

Searching through the wrack

For the spirit of a love

Or a fragment of hope

Heel to toe, they tell a tale

Gentle yet musing

Slight yet burdened

Youthful yet ageless

…

On an endless, windswept beach

Footprints in the firm foreshore,

Surf, expunge the damage done,

The shadows of who came before.

(February 2026)