© 2014 by Glen Sorestad

Glen Sorestad is a long-time Saskatoon poet whose most recent collection is called A Thief of Impeccable Taste (Sand Crab Books, 2011). His latest book, a bilingual English/Spanish volume, was launched in Havana. In November 2000 Sorestad became the first provincially appointed Poet Laureate in Canada. He is a recipient of an Order of Canada (2010) and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).

"How Day Unfolds on the Playas" was published in the fine online magazine, Numero Cinq.

How Day Unfolds on the Playas

Each morning after the sun lights the sands,
young men who work the tourist-only beach
begin their job of hauling out of night storage
the white plastic chairs, matching tables,
large green parasols to shade the mostly white
sun-bathers from omnipotent sun. They set
everything out on the manicured sand for tourists
to loll away their day according to their desires.

Before sundown, these same young workers will
begin the process of undoing, of deconstruction.
One by one, two by two, they stack and hoist
and tote all the paraphernalia away from the sand,
back into the security of the night storage shed.
This Sisyphusan task must and will be repeated,
day after day; it is the bloodstream that feeds
daily life on the groomed sand of the Playas.