Edmonds Marina

The sound laps against gravel
we lick our ice cream
looking at boats
point out the ones we like
think of where we would take them

We Imagine a life drifting down the coast
summer's in Alaska, Christmas in Cabo
dreams slip from our tongues
while we wait for the sun to crown the Olympics

June in Washington means a long wait
but time is something we have
we balance on drift wood,
skip stones, and chase sea gulls

High school is over
we are blank sheets
without rent, jobs or curfews
flowers un-wilted

Some of us will dry out in kitchen windows
bent over from broken marriages and mortgage payments
some will fall through paper shredders in cubicles
making spreadsheets with astronomy degrees

Some of us will never believe in anything again
suck in carcinogens and cheap beer
and wait for a fairy tale ending
to convert us from pessimism

Some of us will be preserved
pressed between the pages of our favorite books
waiting tables and writing
a life somewhere else

Some of us will never have the chance to wilt
collapse under a mountain of debt and pain killers
or falloff dorm-room balchonies with bloodshot eyes
bodies found the next morning

Some of us will burn out
give up on the straight and narrow
and good posture
slouch into a whiskey-soda

Most of us will lose our color
looking back on days like today
wish we could spend forever
on beaches and sunsets

Right now we hang on monkey bars
go down slides and play catch
squint as the last sun beam escapes
through the cracks of the Olympics