Sea stretching skyward, cerulean
arms arching toward the autumn sun
Sign says “Private Beach”
All the same, I stand on sand
Ocean behind my back
Broad Beach before me
I’d been here once in time
In my imagination’s eye
Through a television set
His presence haunted me
I recalled wide shoulders
Breezy blonde hair
Two hands holding shoulders
Watching the tide tear in
Make believe family beyond
The pixels of a picture
Let’s diagnose some murder
Settle into some sleuthing
At the end of an episode
Everything was endurable
Unlike my past, in the prison
Of mighty Georgia mountains
No, the ocean is constant and
Continuous, crashing onto the coast
How am I here on this horizon line?
Somewhere between tide and terrain
A ride down Highway 1 resonates
With my soul, stopping for seascapes
Finally, standing facing Broad Beach
And the house that was home in my head
It had been improved since the nineties
A nice, new wash of white on the outside
Shimmering shutters, gleaming windows
And protruding porches for parties
My husband presses for photos
Although I am apprehensive
People are peering at us from
The gaudy gym next door
I gradually let my guard down
Almost playing in the poses
Then I shut out my senses,
Willing out the world
Childlike again, conceiving
The world wiping my mind
“You made it,” he says suddenly
Behind me, I sense shoulders
Feel hands behind my back
I turn to him and almost twinkle
I repeat his words over and over
I made it. I made it. I made it.
Soon, the sun begins to set
Lying behind the lines of the sky
“Now, have your honeymoon,” he hums
Part of me plants myself in the fantasy
The other half allows the dream to die
Returning to reality where life resides
Now, the love is no longer lost but found
Without the hunger of hallucination