Did I Tell You I Went To the Beach
Did I tell you I went to the
Beach last week?
The wind picked up mightily as I
Stepped out onto the hotel verandah
And the tall royal palm trees lining the courtyard
Lifted and bent their majestic fronds
And they whipped and wept in the west wind
With a sound like a thousand haystacks being thrown
Into the air
And, yes, that same week,
Oh,
The very next day
The wind dropped to a soft breeze as I
Stepped out onto the Hotel Verhandah
The royal palms lining the courtyard
Graciously dipped and bowed
Their crowns of pointed fronds
With a sound like a thousand mothers shushing their
Crying babes
The sea sparkled dazzling pinpricks of light
Each and every sparkle sent
My heart and soul back to 2012
I gaze upon another sea, the vast Indian ocean
Rushing towards the tip of Africa,
Behind me up a steep, shaded street,
In the small, sweet nursed clinic
My mother lay still and breathed less and less every day
Until, with a sound like a thousand whispered goodbyes,
She died
Copyright © Laraine Kentridge Lasdon | Year Posted 2022
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