i remember how it was a sea shell
that sent my mom to the hospital
with a broken arch in her foot

the beach, that which she loved
came back to cause her much pain

i cant imagine a world like that
where even life's tiny moments of happiness
can even lead back to pain and misery

months and months she spent healing
was the walk on the beach worth it?
i do believe it was her last,
so one could assume it was.

it has been two years since
vacation has brought me back to
the gusts of wind on sandy shores
have graced me, or rather, i graced them
i did once go, reflect some, in atlantic city
after a night of gambling, a poem rose out

the smell of the ocean drives me
to happiness
to pain
thinking of warm sunny days,
chilled by ocean dips

i think of the ocean, sea shells
breaking my mom
never for her to come back

she cant visit the beach ever again

but in my mind, she, wherever she is
is walking the beach, with family
with her created version of my father
enjoying the ocean and its many great things
in peace and harmony, and finally, without pain

03/31/2006

Author's Note: *Archive

Posted on 05/19/2007
Copyright © 2025 Jeffrey Parren