I drove through Mennonite country
past sleeping tractors
and unmanned booths selling
flowers and firewood.

I entered the campground
and smiled broadly at the
over-excited blonde who still
didn’t know where the ice-box was
or how to open it when she did.

I drove down to the docks beside the beach.

I pulled my car right up to a picnic table
and cleaned off a public grill that was so
rickety you had to battle with it
even to get out a few decent burgers.

Chicken was out of the question.
Trust me, I tried
-unless you like them burned and raw at the same time
only in different places.

I was enjoying my time
shirtless and smiling
in the evening sunset
when a woman came down the road with a small boy
and looked to the beach
then looked over at me.

Which way was she going to go
I wondered as I sipped my beer.

The road swung wide around where I was
so she decided to cut across the grass
the opposite way
right towards me.

“Ha!” I said to the grill.
It said nothing back.

I watched the woman come.
The evening sunlight painted her like a brush
as she walked like a queen
eyes like thrones.
Magnificence in a summer dress.

She was a poem, a painting, a motion picture.

A face to rule your heart
stared at mine with azure eyes
you could sail across towards
nothing if you wanted to -didn’t matter.

It was hopeless.
I was besotted.
It’s happened before.
It’ll happen again.
Most people only fell in love
a couple of times.
I fell in love every damn day.
Come play. Come play.
Take my heart, it’s yours.
Play with it. It’s okay if you drop it or
break it.
I don’t care. I don’t care.
I am strong. I can fix it. I can take it.
I just need to know
from that look in your eyes
for one moment like this
that you would
let me in that you would
have me and I could continue
on
smiling laughing loving
you from right here
so far away
so close.

She was right in front of me now.
The burgers were burning.
Fuck them.
Her eyes still watched me.
I could tell she was demure.
Classy. I could picture her laughing
into her tea glass in a lavish garden
hitting me with a pillow
kissing my ear

“Hello.” She said.
“Hello.” I answered, smiling.
She smiled and turned away.

The boy waved sheepishly.
I waved back.
‘Do yourself a favour, Kid.’ I thought.
‘Grow up strong and go out and fight
for somebody that’s as worthy as your mother.’

I returned my attention back to the grill
and started whistling as I flipped the burgers.

A girl soon came down the road
far too young for me
they usually were
these days.

She looked to the beach
then looked over at me.

Which way was she going to go
I wondered as I sipped my beer.

The road swung wide around where I was
so she decided to cut across the grass
the opposite way
right towards me.

“Ha!” I said to the grill.

It said nothing back.