Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Six

WHITE WINDOWS

a racial feeling crosses my random thoughts

wondering why I am Caucasian has been

blowing through my mind for weeks now...

vacations don't help - time alone does

victimize by color I have become,

wishing my relatives not from Europe,

raised inside a different culture...

news headlines begin to differ with me,

cultures have their own rituals that are

manifested continuously - gender conditioning,

mostly wind spitting if you are upwind...

dark pigeons standing begging in front...

what do seagulls think?

changing colors as they age - wishing for 

light instead of dark or day versus night.

September 13, 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Six

OUT FRONT

wind blows southward

waves from the northeast

riptides rampantly run

red flags out on display

dogs walking their owners

defecation on the sand...

music blares out from a

nearby neighbor too 

oblivious to notice...

nudes still linger in me 

from jumping dolphins.

September 13, 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Six

RAINDROPS

songs from the sixties and seventies

steadily played inside my head,

in my ears, phones were secured,

iheart radio on my phone,

lowered volumes allow my

thoughts to develop - formulating

mindless words on pages of a

daily journal - ignoring the discomfort

of my beach chair - focusing on the

walkers, who, like me, walk close

to the water's edge - the sun reminds

me she is still out and bright and how

long until I begin to feel raindrops.

September 13, 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Six

UMBRELLALESS

On the horizon - off aways

rain falls - flashes lash out

dark seas appear darker

cooler colors closer by

clouds reach the waist in places

a seamless spectacle caused

cumulous appear nearby in

unison block out the sun,

streaks of blue once appeared

gone forever - or so it seems

predicted rain not expected now

men of weathers wrong before,

lake smooth ocean once before

choppy now at low tides...

normalcy arrives again once more

and I am without an umbrella.

September 13, 2024

Myrtle Breach 2024 Series - Day Five

BEACH CONTINUITY

waves of indifference
approach me from the northeast,
hitting the shoreline
at an awkward angle, poorly
constructed for weekend surfers,
bodies float in the water
heads only showing,
bodies relatively warm
formatted weather patterns
from the gulf twist and turn
on the east coast...
rain expected - never arrives,
fortunate we are here,
experiencing this catastrophe,
three decades or more we have
skated free here - seven days of
off season pleasure - limited lines
and wait times - we have not 
yet learned to embrace all the
unexpected thrown at us here,
our travel bags packed and
we are ready to go and only the
motorcoach has the continuity.

September 12, 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Five

BEACH COFFEE

wind slaps my face like
a jealous schoolgirl,
combing my hair in
several different directions,
apple pie fantasies blow
though my mind, leaving
me wondering about dinner,
bold winds churn my
ideas into mush...
glasses keep eyes from closing,
my body shivers, helping me
to understand why I like
going on vacations...
umbrellas block the sun
but not the wind or
drifting sand as it hits hard
against white skin - the
paleness my city life
has afford me so far...
uncomfortable chairs have
not yet convinced my butt
it is having some fun, while
my mind has begun to practice
transcendental meditation...
my hands hold a warm cup
of virtual beach coffee.

September 12, 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Five

AGING BITTERLY

waves break close to the shoreline
body surfers beware
saltwater foam and spray
fills the nostrils...  cleans out
poorly evacuated sinuses,
wind blows gently
wind blows in gusts
strong and weak but ever
so consistently these days...
ugly, green, dirty water fills
the horizon - the antithesis of a
not so distant Caribbean...
footprints in the sand mark
where thousands have trod
on their mindless journeys
to be seen by the lazy...
engage in temporary exercise...
drink beer from their towel wrapped cans...
engage in hollow conversations as
they display scantily clad bodies...
waves break close to the shoreline
a withering focus creates, leaving
me wondering why my life has
aged me so bitterly.

September 12, 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Four

VISITORS

no historian am I nor
am I an archaeologist
or a religious scholar,
the least of which exists,
but a curious lad be I
and wonder how has
walked on the sands I walk
hundreds of years ago?
before a new world existed
before natives lived in tents
before Chinese crossed oved
from Russia into Alaska...
navigating down into the south
before Adam and Eve and
all animals and trees...
who were the people who
walked upon these shores?
friendly or warriors?
males or females?
not too different from you and me
in the same likeness, I'm told...
who were these visitors from 
years ago...  millions or more,
those who breathed life into us
giving us purpose and free will,
who limited our lifetimes
while promising more, I wonder?

September 11, 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Four

WALKERS

a slanted umbrella blocks the sun
but not the wind...  under it,
a chair sits - in this chair I am,
watching waves is boring
after a day or two...  even with
ear music playing from a much
earlier time in my life...
tourists, like me, stroll up and down
the coastline - only down here done,
never at home they say...  some are
really obese while others thin...
some are old while others young,
some are walked by dogs, while
others decide to walk alone...
pairs, it appears, are mostly seen
but walk they do all day long....
a few looks for shells, they claim,
their rationale blown to the wind,
hunters for treasures too arrive
but only during the season...
offsetting expenses, they claim
but no proof of that either...
for me, I watch and speculate
better than watching waves,
sometimes smiling to myself at
the way they are dressed - it seems
entertainment is cheap down here,
if you know where to look, that is.

September 11. 2024

Myrtle Beach 2024 Series - Day Four

DAY WIND

a sunless sky persists
wind from all directions
daylight welcomed
ending sleepless night,
long sleeves and pants worn
slapping wind persists,
hats roll down the shoreline
preceded by umbrellas,
sprinting patrons catch
if and when fast enough,
guards in yellow jackets
too young for college
too old for youth,
offer little security from
wind's persistence now,
bathers shiver in the water
too foolish to get out, why
did they ever enter think
thoughts try to function...
neighbors on my left 
talk of yesterday...
those on my right
talk of tomorrow...
some have packed and gone
others in the process...
room service overflows
with orders, none of which
are encouraged to fill...
rain expected here and there
none has fallen so far...
car on the first floor parked
soon to receive blessings
blown in that direction we are.

September 11, 2024