Ocean Town

He said it so casually, 3 AM, no plan.

"Let's take a walk through an ocean town."

We were weekend warriors

Always on the run

In a permanent state of getaway

What's wrong with where we are?

What's so tragic about home?

He says, "I feel myself getting older.

The clock in the kitchen

Ticks too loudly

Like a bomb in my head

And I'd rather be anywhere else."

I wonder how soon anywhere

Could turn into with anyone

How soon until the ticking in me

Is a bomb inside him that explodes?

So I say "Let's take a walk through an ocean town."

I hate the beach

The ticky tacky cheapness

Of the would-be ocean trinkets

In rundown shops

It's January

Who goes to a beach town in January

Except a man terrified of time

And the woman who loved him too fondly?

The cold air whips

My fraying curls about

But his arm's in my arm

And I'm warm.

I make the plans and I fold the maps

His delicate artist hands

Could never be held in the cages

Of schedules or plans

"That's why I have you." he says

And I smile, because he has me

Which means I still have him

But for how long?

Until the lines on my face

Echo my age?

I won't be young forever.

Will you still want to be seen

On a boardwalk hand in hand

With me once my hair starts to gray?

I find myself wondering

In the future you see

The one where you never grow old

Is it still me, ten years away

To which you say

"Let's take a walk through an ocean town?"