life’s a beach

salty breeze licking at the nape of a bare neck
the gentle crashing of waves upon the shore
a night sky full of twinkling stars, so far away
a new night sky that is all different and all the same.

long tanned legs laid out languorously against red cushions
covered in sand and oil and the stillness of the night
there hangs in the air a certain quality
an importance that is neither here nor there.

there is laughter in the distance
all too familiar and yet somehow impossible to connect to
the mood here is all too different
the energy underneath it hums and burns.

the pitter patter of nervous hearts
the conversation deep and engulfing
my head a mess of uncertainty
I am once again searching for answers I can not find.

the best memories attached to the worst people
how can someone have such a duality within
to show such carelessness
only to turn around and envelop you in a caring that is far too much.

perhaps if it had been a different time
a different beach
a different life
but then, all the damage has already been done.

memories will fade like tans
or maybe more like waves, coming in and out
bringing with them new stones to overturn
taking with them the fragments of shells.