THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS

Velvet sand

inviting you to

run your fingers down

and deep.

Waves carressing your ankles

as your consciousness submerges

lapping into white and silent space,

pulled back by the exuberant

shouts of a stick figure

in the sky

as the red and yellow parachute

wafts him gaily across the bay,

his legs treading as if he

walked the sky.

A small nut brown boy with

Aztec eyes

tries

unsuccessfully

to sell peanuts

his burlap bag

slung over his shoulder.

Stoically

he plods

down the beach.

I try to respond to

questions

I have yet to ask,

my reverie

my deep silence

gone with the lapping of waves,

elusiveness

hugging me like a shadow.

A balloon man

an Aztec boy

nothing in common,

but this moment.