Salted Fish

SALTED FISH

August 2014

Standing and floating in the seductive glitter,

in the heart of the turbulence,

jumping, diving under,

ever staring down the next gathering rollers

coming at us,

coming at us,

bigger, bigger, oh god, crash!

Curving over, surging on.

Sometimes we catch it just right, yes! and it scoops us up and shoves,

pushes fast and glorious, on and on,

right to the beach, to ankle deep.

And so we remain immersed in that cold, cold ocean

looking for the next perfect ride until

eyes sting and lips are swollen,

fingers puckered,

shaking bodies lightly coated all over with sand,

even in my ear, from when that big one slapped me on the head.

Hands so cold fingers don't work to find the velcro and zipper at the back of the neck

to peel the black wet rubber down and

let the blessed sun return the heat to us.

Salted, sticky,

skin baked dry and warm.

Like smoked salmon, like brined cod.