The Inevitable Creep of the Tide

 

The Inevitable Creep of the Tide 

There on the shore my father and I

sea breezed blown

he tanned and black haired

waiting at a sanded mound 

I ferrying Fantasia's beach

buckets of seawater

He drizzling into magical

being a castle three quarters tall as I

All afternoon we worked 

Sun lowering in the sky,

people walking by 

stopping to look to smile

a trio of tow-headed

siblings watching thumbs in mouths

dumbfounded until they called away

Finally sand golden sun setting 

He drizzled wet sand through his hands 

squeezing a draped doorway into life

a small fuchsia flag posted and waving

in the salty air

I watched my father, my castle

and the sudden unnoticed inexorable

creep of the tide lapping at its sides.

Leaned against him inhaling cigarettes,

Coppertone, salt, a touch of turpentine. 

We bought creamsicles from the man who came

around one last time lugging a huge steel cooler -

And then we were alone …in the glow of orange light

The sweet tangy taste of citrus and cream

on my lips as the gentle tide turned – 

rose and pushed waves closer - inch by inch

until in a sudden lurch of powerful spray

All that remained of my castle 

was a tiny fuchsia flag

floating out to sea.

My father’s arm stayed solid around my shoulders

as we sat warm in the chill of bittersweet inevitability

Dedicated to my father Lawrence R. Ketover