I shall live by the ocean and walk a sandy shore.
And there shall I find a long boardwalk
with benches worn rough, and toddlers
dripping ice cream and seagulls divebombing
elephant ears on paper plates.
Sandpipers on spindle-legs dare the waves.
Lost car keys, found, and red crabs burrow down.
A good dog at my side, shaking off, ready to go.
​
             Children, when it’s time,​
             will you find for me​
             a headstone crumbling,​
             my name already faded?​
             Visitors will wonder​
             at such a dusty grave, so dark​
             yet lush with honeysuckle.​
             How beautiful that shall be​
             and so fine,​
             so far from the sea.​
 

Image credit:Frank McKenna

A chapbook, Spider Lake, was published by Kattywompus Press in 2019. A degree or two were accomplished somewhere along the way before or after now or then, and I've had many poems featured in literary journals. I illustrated a children's book using song lyrics from an old song, it's called Baby Ride - available on Amazon and has sold exactly zero copies. I love slow walks to catch the poem or whatever it is that may need catching.