Ocean Spirit

iii. memories

his treasured memories

reside in the summer garden

of his grandmother's cottage

wild mint blossoming

purple flowers swaying

with southerly winds

as earthworms squirmed

in handfuls of mud

golden bees flitting

over bubbling creeks

in dawn's cerulean light

as hummingbirds darted

sipping from azul lupine

pill bugs crawling

over crumpled leaves

underneath tomato plants

white blooms gazing

at the cloud speckled skies

in his childhood paradise

where all worries flew away

riding on southern gales

like blown dandelion puffs

my treasured memories

reside on the summer beaches

and windswept dunes

covered with grasses

and rusted bottle caps

as i ran across shorelines

carrying dirtied pails

froth curling around

my sand smoothed hands

digging through silt

chasing small sand crabs

burrowing in the swash

as rolling waves crashed

over jagged shells

and buried cigarette buds

washing them with

the tawny beach sand

in my childhood paradise

where stress washed away

like indents of footsteps

disappearing under seafoam

our new memories

reside in a dingy diner

torn booth chairs and

mustard smeared floors

sharing memories

of pasts long gone

but the way

his eyes glisten

describing the flowers

dim amethyst gems

in the soft twilight

makes them feel new

and my heart rushes

as his fingers dance

on my palms

like warm whispers

between hushed breaths

as fluorescent lights

hum and flicker

in our paradise

where we're building

something new

from scraps of memories

running towards a future

by taking two steps

towards our pasts