Memory at the Beach

[addy]

I remember the absence of sound
and the syrupy light warming everything;
my face tipped above the lapping water
and my toes burrowed in sand
as the sea dragged me by the neck
over and over
like a large, affectionate friend.

Somewhere far away my father sits fuming
and my mother has gotten tired.
But I keep my eye on the waving buoys
and imagine crossing that distance
towards a fearsome heaving embrace
while the salty wind dashes over me
like old tears in reverse,
evaporating
against the breadth of a larger world.