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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

TheOcean2ByHenryBrown

Photo Taken by Henry Brown

Searching For Hummingbirds

by Betsy Holleman Burke

© 2024 Searching For Hummingbirds

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