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The Yellow Shirt
Betsy Holleman Burke
I catch sight of your yellow shirt
flapping, then still
in the hot July sun.
For an instant
I almost believe
you are back
a trace of your laugh
on a gust of wind
your faded shirt
your khaki shorts
tossed over the clothes line
hang stiff and gritty
with sand and salt
cast a jagged shadow
over your tackle box
shattered and strewn
across the hot sand
a jumble of
metal lures
knotted line
yellow plastic worms
a red Swiss Army Knife
all rusted
all ruined
There is no smell
only salt
bitter on my tongue
hard to the touch
stiff to pull over
my head as I walk
across the fine
white sand
into the water.
This poem appears in Searching For Hummingbirds, an anthology by Betsy Holleman Burke

Photo Taken by Henry Brown
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