beach day (i see)

july 11, 2024

three dads building castles in the sand and throwing their children’s toys in the ocean i see a teenage girl walking along the beach listening to her ipod. i imagine she’s listening to hilary duff “so yesterday, so yesterday…haven’t you heard that i’m going to be okay…”

there are women in baseball hats to keep the sun out of their faces and men who should be wearing baseball hats to keep the red out of their faces there are husbands taking pictures of their wives wives taking pictures of their husbands and children taking pictures of their parents. a boy reaches a hand in the back of his swim trunks to free the sand that’s trapped from his bottom

i see books, and umbrellas, sunscreen and wild horses “oh my god ave come look,” a woman walks toward the beach with a sack for a beach bag on her shoulder. her sister, ave, following a ways behind. she sets down the beach bag and immediately fishes out her phone to take a picture of the horse that’s been standing there completely still for an hour, is that normal?

i get up from my brand new beach chair to stand near the water. it’s ice cold, i stand there for a while, seagulls calling, breezing blowing, no not blowing but flirting with me. whispering in my ear as if to ask, where have you been love? and suddenly i’m dancing, watching the footprints left in the sand like leftovers from a waltz pure romance. the beach and i are on a date.

i see a son chasing his dad through the waves that are crashing, the dad is catching his ankles. i loose a sigh of relief seeing a couple and their kids whose skin looks like mine and wonder if they exhaled when seeing me too.

one minute, i’m a hot sexy single woman standing on the beach, in my high cut one piece swimsuit like a baywatch babe, letting the waves tickle her toes and the next i’m a child tossing the sand around and giggling at the waves chasing me…

i see children who are scared to get in the water and children who have never known fear. grandpas on boogie boards and preteens in life jackets. i feel the wind and sun on my skin and realize it's been a while, no it’s been to long since my skin and the sky have had such a love affair

an hour passes, then two, then three i worry if i’ve spent “enough” time at the beach to justify the long drive and a small voice says, release the quantity babe, it was always about the quality.

i dry off, pack up, and walk back to the hot car. the drive home is two hours and forty-four minutes. i plug my phone in, turn the music up and sing/scream my way home…

.m