An ocean wave is energy moving across the water’s surface.
A death rattle is the sound of air moving through saliva
that collects in a dying person’s throat.
When I look at the ocean, a wave moves across it.
My father is dying of thirst.
Typically, a person dies within twenty-four hours
of the death rattle’s onset.
When I turn to look at the bay, a great blue heron takes flight.
The sun turns pink and sinks behind the bay.
The problem with the world is that it’s never pink enough.
I drink a pink drink that’s never drink enough.
I open a cocktail umbrella, and a great blue heron takes flight
toward a sky that’s never near enough.
I look at a pretzel and salivate.
Humans need salt to survive
but die if they drink ocean water because
it contains more salt than their kidneys can process.
There are never enough pretzels to eat.
The problem is that we think there’s a problem.
A cubic foot of ocean water contains about 2.2 pounds of salt.
Even my father on the beach says he sees a ship having a problem.
My father on the ship says he sees a beach.
My father on the ship that is sinking.
The pink sun that sinks behind the bay.
The salt that tells me a lie.