Poem for Round 8 of Slam '04 |
City in sweet sunshine, City by the sea, City written in seashells coaxed by lavish nights and, after, ice cream stands melting into pristine rainbow-smiles of other beachsters. I have been covered with postcards all day, measuring liquid fantasies, the ocean's brine on my tongue--when I go. The intentional bliss I have for that place has me meeting up with a rare destiny. I have been around. My fate sealed. My money licks my pocket and gets gritty with the high price of gas but the low price of a hotdog at North Jetty Camp. It is a paradise that lies where the rocks are, and beyond, beyond the sea. A little drunk at the mere mention of his name, I know that he loves me in a bathing suit just the same, I recall his red and white beach chair setting close to the ground, relishing moments of silence as he feeds the pigeons and sings through a dust storm of radio music. What might the nation think tonight? Is the seaside filled with escapes for us all? Sandcastles left there to look beautiful for late day fishermen? *** City over yonder, the farmhouses have made you handsome for years. The cows appear as if they know they are healthy for our own best interest, chewing, grazing, thinking they will be milked soon. Somehow, he has painted the color of his flesh like the old red barn in spirit. It is nostalgic redwood and as easy to spot as cherry pie. The mental picture of the chair his Dad's old homestead had has me levitating on a photograph like a woman finding recipes for the common flu. He has been nursing the thought that farmers are the heart of the nation, and says so. The fields of corn wave graciously in the breeze. City over yonder, close to green fields and miracles, where the carnival comes to the church parking lot like paved summer glory, is a gentleman farmer's notes on life. Meanwhile, my man has pizza on his trousers and tractors on his mind. He has just sold one for a snow blower. In the summer, it's all about the country music and fireflies. In winter, a long road up the lonesome path. |