graffiti

it’s over, definitely.
so i walk on the beach, and with an oddly deformed
stick write your name in the sand just
below the mark of the newly turned high tide.
...which gives me almost twelve hours to change my mind.

an hour later, up the beach,
there’s someone that might be you.
so i hurry to gather small skipping stones
and beside the first, spell your name, larger
and with the possibility that, if the sea is kind, some trace
will remain in the morning.

as an afterthought
i turn to face the wind and whisper your name godspeed,
with my hand cupped to my ear so i can hear
the wind whisper it back - a double blessing.
...and then go for coffee.

when i return all of the consonants are gone
and someone that might be you
is pretending not to watch from up the beach.


Oct. 4/02