WHERE'S ABBOTT WITHOUT COSTELLO

As open parentheses long for one to close

A thoughtful gift waits for a grateful note.

As slippers seek to cover their owner’s toes

A windy day calls for both hat and coat.

As puckered lips desire their beloved’s mouth

An unanswered sigh makes romance more remote.

As autumn makes birds yearn to fly south

A sailor stuck on land pines for his boat.

                                               

As Abbott would be lost without Costello

Costello on his own would be a cheerless fellow.

A KISS FOR SARAH

Sarah’s eight decades
Hadn’t diminished
Her desire to be touched,
Weakened the want
Of warm lips
To press against hers or
Gentle arms around her waist
To pull her close
On a chilly night.
During their courtship
He had been a kind, faultless gentleman
Holding doors and
Standing till she was seated
Giving in to her every want and
Barely a peck on the cheek
At the end of the evening.
He’d hold her arm
As they crossed an icy street
But not her hand
As they watched the sunset.
He was her wingless angel,
A late in life partner
Set on pleasing her
Giving her trips
To the pyramids and the Panama Canal
But unwilling to touch her soft skin
As the tropic sun turned it brown.
Sarah never complained
But after he was gone
She told her daughter
She wanted
A warmer blanket.


SEA GLASS PEOPLE - Portraits in Words and Watercolors   (available on Amazon.com)

MORNING MEDITATION

I’d be first on the beach

If not for the gulls

There before the sun

Feasting without satiation.

Tap, Tap, TAP

Crack, a hole

Death intrudes

Without invitation.

To a crustacean

A gull’s heart

Is as hard

As its beak.

The sun now

Five fingers above

The horizon

I’m late for breakfast.

Left behind

My footsteps pass

A seashell landfill

But no remorse.

INHERITANCE - For Denia and Jess

I’m pained
I placed
My rock
In your shoe
Not realizing
It’d become
An enduring part
Of you.

While
Raising you
I was living my
Imperfect life.
I realize now
My ways
Were cutting deep
Like a knife.

As a fish
Is unaware of water,
I was oblivious
To my will.
Today
Through your inheritance
You’re living
With it still.

I’ve given you
Worthwhile gifts
Along with them
Came a stone.
Forgive me
It’s your life
Work hard
Make it your own.

CRAB CLAW

CRAB CLAW

I was in a terrible mood
As I walked the waterline along the beach.
Cynthia broke up with me last night
Claimed I was running away from our problem
Not willing to face it.
So I drove away and ran to the shore.
I was alone in pain watching waves and
Crushing discarded shells as I walked.

My eye caught a splash of color,
A crab’s claw not the crab just the claw.
Transfixed by its beautiful blue arm and red pointed pincers,
I felt the awful pain it caused
As it brought its catch to its mouth
Scooped up the claw in a clam shell
Brought it back to my rented room
Placed it on the night table next to the phone and lamp.

I moped through the rest of the day falling asleep
After finishing my third beer and a bottle of tequila.
Sleep offered little relief from my pain
Consciousness seemed far away when I first heard the tapping.
Tap, tap, tap
Like something striking the lamp base
Growing louder and louder until
I opened my eyes and turned on the light.

The claw sat in the shell motionless. I stared at it
Expecting it to move to tap the lamp base
One more time. I waited.
It did not move.
The message light was blinking.
It was Cynthia. She wanted to hear
My voice. It was 2 a.m. when I called her back.
Could she come to the shore so we could talk?

How does one feel when sunlight finds a crack
In the clouds and lights the ground?
I whispered “yes” and silently started to cry.
At dawn while waiting for her by the shore
Watching the waves, I took the blue and red crab claw
With its painful pincers and threw it back into the sea
Where it belonged.
It no longer interested me.