Beach

It’s the perfect weather for a swim, a solid serene blue sky clashes with the Gulf.

  The water is warm the tide is lowish and the beach is empty.

    Standing on the sandbar 

      All I can see is green water extending indefinitely 

    I feel like I am alone in the middle of the ocean peacefully floating

  No one can tell me what to do or think

Until lunchtime.

Food tastes good after hours in the water.

  The smells of salt, sand, and sunscreen linger on me 

    Reminding me to go back to the beach soon

      But I haven’t said hi to Grandma yet.

        She greets me and then murmurs a complaint

      As she slowly rediscovers the TV remote.

    The news comes on and two boys are lost at sea.

  Great.

I have been too distracted and need to reunite with the Gulf.

More people are at the beach now.

  But the sandbar is still mine.

    I let myself float for awhile and I observe the voluminous white clouds

      It’s still sunny though there are more clouds now.

        The small brown birds dart past me in a swarm

          Pelicans glide high across the coast line

          And a blue heron is doing its best fisherman impersonation

        Right next to the guy who sets up his pole everyday

      But why does Grandma always put the news on

    She never goes outside or anywhere.

  Why does she want to watch terrible things on TV

Only to complain about them.

It gets windier and the waves are bigger now 

  I decide to body surf.

    I gently coast on the familiar waves like a pro towards shore.

      The little novices watch in jealousy 

        Still not big or smart enough to understand the technique.

          I ride a set of waves sometimes successfully

            Sometimes I get thrown to the floor.

              The rush of riding waves captures me for about an hour

              Distracting me from the change in weather.

            Storm clouds intrude and seize the friendly clouds. 

          As I struggle to run my fingers through my hair sticky with salt water

        I notice Grandma watching from her porch alone except for her cigarette

      Probably happy that a beautiful day got destroyed.

    Now she can complain that the weather is bad

  For no real reason.

She doesn’t lose the day like I do.

It’s raining hard now and it’s very windy.

  Everyone chases after their umbrellas and clings to their children 

    In a race back to shelter.

      I retrieve my couple items and run back to the condo.

     Inside Grandma still has the news on but now politics is the topic.

   My favorite.

She rants 

  “Gays are greedy” and “what are we supposed to call Blacks?”

    Because you can’t call them the N-word anymore.

      Mexicans are stealing our jobs she says.

    Easily brainwashed by the news which influences her poor idea of America

  Because of her lack of education.

But she has never had a job and her own parents were immigrants.

  My mom tries her best not to say anything and continue cooking

    It isn’t enough though.

      My dad is smart.

    He excuses himself from the battleground and finds the remote.

  He puts the Rays game on and tunes out.

I don’t want to watch baseball or listen to the dumbest argument ever

  So I go to my room.

   I pretend my bed is water and I float away to my personal peace.

It starts to thunder outside my window.