One For The Bay

Rusty trucks honked as they passed,

Salty surfers hung their freckled fingers out the window

To encourage the line of red that stood on the peak of the route 54 bridge.

Hanging on by their heels,

Twelve ocean rescuers grinned ear to ear

While the rain and wind of the late August nor’easter blew off the bay.

Twelve ocean rescuers stood shaking,

From the rain or from the nerves,

Peering excitedly at the smooth current

That would soon be a mess of white water. 

The final weekend of the lifesaving season

On the Delaware beaches

Brought forth a wave of melancholy

As the sun kissed skin began to peel

The white blonde sun streaks grow,

Revealing dark roots well aquatinted to the winter season.

Twelve of us stood damp and sandy,

Head to toe in red,

Prepared to answer the long alluded question that makes parents itch. 

“If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?” 

Two cannonballs

And a swan dive later,

I knew that jumping off the route 54 bridge

Was the best decision I made.