semantics

they were just two categories in search of criteria
bumping into one another repeatedly
on a windblown pebble beach
shoulders brushing, bodies leaning to and fro, a struggle
to hear each other
over the sound of inevitability
unconcerned, content, preoccupied with the sun in their eyes
they forgot to watch the tide
until it had curled itself around
their words and swept their meaning out
to sea, leaving only the look in her eye, the angle of his head
a lack of denial
as good as consent.