Found Objects: A Seaside Postcard

As the couples kiss on the benches
overlooking the sea
I count the windows with their lights on
So I won’t spoil the moment.

I watch the waves recede
Think about jumping in, swimming
As the horizon dances in and
Out of my vision.

The promenade, lit with cheap torches
Lights my way home
Keeps my feet moving
In a straight line.

I open my mouth to scream and catch
A wave, scratching salt into the wound
Where your kiss caught and hung me
Out to dry.

March 2011

Japan
An ocean side photograph
grey sky, blue water, mountains of debris
a single piano

broken in half, with no legs
an instrument that would not produce music
anymore

A few miles away, out of sight
huddled in a shelter
several hundred families wait for answers
that do not come

dreaming of a nightmare that was real
waking early to a new day,
looking East toward the sunrise

toward the ocean, and waves
that will never look the same
ever again