Our Days At The Beach

Sunrise on the ocean, tracks in the sand
We felt a skin flattening stiff breeze buffeting our walk
Browsing the balcony I said the sweet smell was marijuana from a perch upwind and you said, so that’s what that smell is?
On Thursday night we bought six dollars of ice cream and sat by King’s Highway as car traffic measured time
From Tuesday to Saturday our hearts and minds tugged first to wrestle free, then cozy up
That mad Christian with chalk reminded us “Jesus Is Risen” at Duke University
And after our visit, we believed
We even had our own resurrection
I wanted you to be a professor while we were there and you wanted me to act like a buddy
Instead you were the hesitant high school junior and I was a tough college administrator, not even a father
But the tour, that precious stroll among money and genes…
Floating over those grounds in a group of other prospects offered insight into life as ideal
The campus met your walking needs, you offered
Ten songs kept us humming in the rented car
And universe influences had us meeting nine-year old acquaintances
But I want to point out mostly one thing
That night at the beach when we lay in our hotel beds talking way into the night
I have done that with you my whole life on some peaceful mythic shore
Eternity is what most people call it
Time, space and matter, strong myths all…but
Such occasions between father and daughter are real
It matters not what we said then
Or on our stroll down the beach-equivalent of a dozen avenues
Even the little snippy exchanges fade
One toe each in the rock-wash cool ocean
Then you off to L.A., the left pond beyond
My five senses
These memories
Love