Saluting myself...who better
In ways more powerful than storms or the sea
My mind constantly reshapes the beach:
Into a couch of sand
Where I, alone, drown in my failures,
Rearrange my life or create a new one;
Into a mountainous dune
From where I revel in my successes,
Dream of things that may never come true;
Into a fortress
To shut out
Trailing ghosts;
Or a fenceless oasis
To welcome
Trailing comrades.
It is my coliseum, my cathedral, my monastery,
My ethereal time zone
Where the smell of heat and fresh air,
Curling water depositing shells and weed,
Gulls dancing in the air
All rise, with it,
Beyond land's end
Into a harbor in my mind
That guards me both from tsunami, tsuris.
And when I leave, wherever I go,
I remain tethered to that last umbrella
That refuses to fold
no matter the strength of winter winds and rain...
..waiting till my return
to reshape once again the beach
Make light of life, revel in camaraderie
As others accentuate, unabashedly, bellies, boobs and butts
Snub my sunburned nose at all my troubles,
Telling all who care to hear or dare:
No matter what you send,
The harbor in my mind is as far as you get.
