Down the windward way

“Down the windward way” composed, played, and recorded with guitar on one and two tracks by Sanford R. Bender on June 22, 2022.
“Shoreline from the Boardwalk” (Ocean City, New Jersey) photographed by Sanford R. Bender on June 19, 2022
“Black Skimmer” (Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Galloway, New Jersey) photographed by Sanford R. Bender on June 18, 2022

The Sand Dollar

“The Sand Dollar” collected and photographed by Sanford Bender on June 15, 2021.
“The Sand Dollar”, a poem written on July 10, 2010, with music sung and accompanied with acoustic guitar by Sanford Bender on June 25, 2015

The Sand Dollar

Walking around the curve of beach

The light house still far to the west

Out over seemingly endless dunes

An infinite distance reminding me

Of the poet who observed that

Beyond mountains

Were more mountains,

Soon after my companion turned back

I accepted the futility of continuing

But in my turning around

Circumventing the ocean’s horizon

Looked down upon a treasure trove of shells

Glittering beneath my feet,

There in the curls of seaweed

I found a sand dollar

Smooth and round

Ten pine like needles radiating

The image of the moon

Which would soon appear

Over the darkening sea