Friday, June 15, 2007

Tequila Sunrises and other shots.....


5:34 A.M......
Mad cats spitting over chicken bones owned the abandoned Tiki Deck. Their Halloween silhouettes arched and tiptoed across the splintered planks, smiling with greasy lips and staring at me with liquid eyes. I mimicked them. Arched my back and tippy-toed past their rheumy faces, past the early morning stench of Friday night beer bottles....
And dove..... feet first,
fanny next, over the mountainous sand dune, onlto the cold wet sand, bulldozed flat by a midnight tide....

The sleepy pink sky flirtatiously batted her eyes and golden streaks of her mascara rained onto the the glassy sea.
"Good Morning Sunshine".....I whispered.....
"I've come to find peace"......
And then I ran.....in the cold coquina laced sand. Barefooted and free.
At the frothy water's edge, I paused to twirl, to point my toes, to be five years old again and was greeted by myself, a mermaid ghost doing water ballet in the mirror on the thin morning tide. I smiled at my own reflection until she was swept out to sea...
Mounds of blackened sea weed littered the shoreline - dividing the hard cold surface of the morning from the soft sugar dunes of the night. I lifted a foot and sent a tangled mossy pile of it flying....watched as a bridal bouquet of barnacles, treasure shells and bottle caps freed themselves from the knotty web in flight.....
A few more steps and.....
Half buried and half alive, a billowing orange blob lay breathing, exposed and then hiding again with each lick of the waves. It wallowed, quietly gurgling and then gasping. It's lungs filled with water, and then it lay breathless and empty again. I crouched near, but not too close. And then with one steamroller roar, the ocean flipped it on it's belly....
"I'D RATHER BE IN BED"
Giant letters tattoed on it's fluorescent chest.
I drug it's water logged ugliness to safety, into the arms of the Sun. Lay it, flattened, on a mound of sand just high enough to be an island.....
I salute you, sweet stranger,
wearing those dollar-store words....
And once here,
flinging them off in a fit of freedom......
Because,
of course,
there's no place anyone would rather be...

Than here........

18 comments:

Bardouble29 said...

Oh honey!! How I missed you girl. I am right there with you! Glad you had a fantastic time!

Me said...

Welcome back home :)

Anonymous said...

TINK from WV

SHE said...

"The sleepy pink sky flirtatiously batted her eyes and golden streaks of her mascara rained onto the the glassy sea."

you inhale beauty with your eyes and exhale poetry with your words

all six of your senses so wide awake everywhere you go

thanks for the post(card).

singleton said...

bardouble....next time you really will be! I checked out 10,000 tattoos, they were everywhere, girl! And I have to tell you....we need to think carefully!

Orhan...yup! SLB behind me, coming home on Sunday!

Sweet Anon....
I tripped over a cowboy boot unpacking this morning....
Love,
Grace

She... Funny that you bring up the senses, we were just talking about that and I was adamant that there are seven. I still think there are. The seventh one is maybe just change itself!

And the sun, bless her soul, she, too, found the mirror in the sea!
peace~love

Scott from Oregon said...

I got me pool in me yard...

singleton said...

scott....Mine is green!

mindy said...

missed you!!

Angela Marie said...

I am glad that you are back... but coming away from a visit like that.. Is a huge part of you still there? I know that is how I feel when I leave. It takes a while for me to adjust back. Did it seem to go by quick? Your trip.

Your sand castle was cool... how did you make it look like that... almost like melted sand wax.

Rachelle said...

oh boy... this post took my breath away and made me feel like the 6 year old towhead baby I was who brought every strand of seaweed to my momma.
Thank you for sharing with me, I love you!
Slainte~
Rachelle

singleton said...

mindy....back at you, girlfriend! 7 days is a long time to go without getting the yoo-hoo from the circle!

angela Marie....It was over in a split second, and I'm like a love-sick teenager....pining!

Oh the castle in the sand....you just plop your little buns down in the sand with a bucket of water, make mud, dribble it through your fingertips and daydream.....
It lasted until high tide, Can you believe that not even one wayward child kicked it down? Musta felt the peace thing going on.....


Rachelle....Missed you girl. You know, I was that towheaded kid, too, and got to crawl right back into those skinny little arms and legs and imagination for seven days and seven nights! Heaven on earth!
Cheers!

Dan said...

I hope you have you camera with you next time you encounter a mermaid! :)

singleton said...

Dan....LOL! I just got one! Just you wait!

Enemy of the Republic said...

We missed you.

singleton said...

enemy....well, it was the bomb! And still, glad to be back at ya! Thanks, sweetie!

eric1313 said...

You had me at the title! Hahaha
And the mermaids that you paint are probably just as beautiful and expressive as the one you saw in the water.
Peace to you and all of yours

singleton said...

eric...
the one in the water was just me in the house of mirrors...
Peace, always...

eric1313 said...

Singleton
that's what I said...
but I forgot the house
always, peace