We ran to place of safety
my surrogate dad and me
away from the guns
a place by the sea
the past

Salt and vinegar
on our chips
gritty sand
in uncomfortable bits
dug trenches
around the wheels

Pedantically you count the ways
the wherefores, whys and hows
that a perfect life has eluded

He sits here thinking, and waits
mind travelling distant shores
outwardly a prisoner
yet inside

Tiny though she seems
from this distance as I lay
watching her at the waters edge
preoccupied in

In the cold, harsh light of day
after the last beat is heard
and the pain has ended for some
a