same sea

the next day
no wind at all
hardly the same sea

a gentle roll
this pearly morn
quiet lapping at the shore

waiting for the small boat fisherman
to bring up his net by the red buoy
i want to catch him
at his solitary work and live vicariously

auto-overdrive

i dreamed on automatic overdrive
the mediterranean was sweeping waves of long green stems
with yellow flowers
and it all broke on the shore
i was neck deep and flopping

karolina made the hotel beds in polish military fashion
we were bound like mummies
using shrink wrap
to keep us in place
three thousand years

yesterday she wore her cupcake howitzer bra
mounted on twin staggered gun mounts
one aimed high, one covering the field
in the lobby as she turned my way
i prudently took a step back

Happy is the acting hotel director
how could you name your son Happy
and not get what you'd expect?
Happy, shut up. Happy, sit down.

waves

all night out of phase
waves broke air bubbles
that cracked and crunched

i thought it was shore rocks
sliding in and out
in the morning i saw few rocks, mostly sand

it was the power of water
of air grinding, popping
let’s harness that power

some day
these will be the good old days

without a net

on our way training down
south of roma, south of napoli
the pearl of the med
to get sand in our shoes
a sleepy place with nothing going on
after three days we’ll be friends with the guy who drives the local bus to town where the pizza is good
we’ll be there
with no net, no kidding, and too cold to swim

but the hotel remembers us
not actually, of course, unless they have chips
this one doesn’t even have rice crispies
something for the kids of the future to look forward to
chips implanted in hotels so it remembers you
“Oh, not you again, you little...”

back in this time warp
we like carolina, she’s the polish worker
she will be the only one there
the old lady has something with the bones in her foot
can’t get shoes on and won’t be there
we’ll be the only guests
our terrace is large
right on the beach

nothing to do
a tv in the lobby, hardly on
only the lapping of the mediterranean
on and on, rolling back and forth
dragging rocks on the shore

space to read, write, draw and observe
then while walking the shore
looking far off, out to sea or toward the clouds
i’ll think of you

stuff with the big guys

if we could stuff basketballs
soar way over the rim and drop it in
we’d make millions on a two year contract
pose for picture so countless others
could hang it on their wall

sign an autograph if we had to
have a driver take us around
get the best seats everywhere
and get all the drugs we need before we have to
leave our place in the sun for a few days to testify