Lost at Sea

She couldn’t stop laughing as she ran

up the beach towards the blanket

I was coughing and spluttering

sea water running from my nose

and dribbling down my chin

Trying to do a handstand in the surf

had turned out to be a bad idea

I staggered along behind her

choking and laughing at the same time

She was toweling off as I reached the blanket

I came up behind her and grabbed her around the waist

lifting her off the sand and twirling her around

She screamed

Eeeek!

The Swamp Thing!

We fell to the blanket and I buried my face

against her neck and blew raspberries

Nooo!

She said, pulling away

Then she took my face in her two hands and kissed me

It was a long, wet, salty kiss

a sea kiss and

I wanted to drown in it

She lay back on the blanket and I leaned over her

and brushed her wet hair from her forehead

I kissed her eye lids

I kissed her ear and nibbled her ear lobe

then kissed the nape of her neck

and moved my tongue down her neck toward her collarbone

licking salt and sunblock that hadn’t already come off in the water

She said Mmm

and put her hand behind my head

tunneling her fingers through my wet hair

I put my lips on the surgical scar she had on her neck

just under the chin and gently kissed it

I ran my hand down her thigh

She pushed my head back and sat up

Come on you vampire

We’re going up to the cottage

I come back every year at this time

to walk along the shore

and watch the sea change color

as twilight approaches

and the clouds take on a pink hue

I come upon a flock of Sandpipers

scampering back and forth at the shoreline

chasing the waves out

darting here and there

looking for sand fleas

When they spot the bubble of the sand flea’s digging

they drive their long beaks down

after the many-legged morsels

But of course the waves turn

and flow back towards shore

and these silly birds turn

and dash back

and follow the retreating waves back again

hoping to recapture what’s been lost

When I approach

they take flight

sweeping this way and that

in perfect formation

their bellies and backs

alternately flashing white and black

like sun streaming through the whirling blades of a fan

Walking along the beach

I think about those last days we had together

They were such a gift

The clouds are beginning to look bruised

their dark underbellies threatening rain

What was a gorgeous sunset is now

the dark foreboding of a storm

and wind whipped waves are crashing

all along the endless shore

I stand and look out across the roiling ocean

I want her back