At lowest tide, when waves recede along

this California coast, the flattest floor

uncloaks and there above the sand, a pane

of thinnest sea extends – a mirror,
repeating all the clouds, reversing birds

and roaming couples, sprinting dogs unchained,

and there’s my son, who holds his arms upwards,

a doubled X, an epic picture framed.
The photo experts say to capture this:

drop low and use a wide-angled lens

and polarizing filters cut the glint.

Stock photo sites are full of these reflections.
I frame him in a third, a product ready,

paired with himself, then stop and let them be.