Tofino, Tofino

Photo and Prose by Alex Shapiro

Tofino, Tofino


Well, Tofino, plus the wild, mountainous midsection
of Vancouver Island one traverses to get there,
is nothing short of stunningly beautiful.
Like so many of the villages up here,
summertime tourist crowds swell the size
and the local economy, altering the vibe
for a four month period of warm air and long nights.
But the rest of the year offers a peace and solitude
that few July visitors can experience.
Wintertime on a beach is always magical to me.

I remember when I lived at Paradise Cove in Malibu,
and this time of year I’d have a mile-long stretch of sand,
cliffs and raging tides all to myself.
I’d walk up and down the empty beach completely alone,
occasionally wondering whether a bomb had gone off
in Los Angeles and I was the last to know,
and perhaps the last person left standing.
My twisted psyche sort of liked this thought.
Experiencing that kind of solitude within reach
of one of the worlds’ busiest cities is fascinating.
Experiencing it as I did this past weekend,
many hours of travel away from any such metropolis,
is another fantastic form of isolation.


Alex Shapiro February 2009
Linebreaks by Glenn Buttkus