Childhood conditioned me to loath and fear the beach

Though not for crabs or seagulls or whatever else there creeps

But for the very ground itself, the sand between my toes

For what lies beneath it, does anybody know?

Each step is a risk taken, a gamble with your life

Waiting for that sinking feeling, like the slicing of a knife

Lungs constantly on ready to be held at second’s glance

Barely even inching forward, unwilling to take that chance

I just know the very second that I let my caution down

Is the moment I will find myself neck deep in sand and drowned

So I follow in the footsteps of those I walk behind

Thus if they succumb to quicksand; I can halt and end up fine