The Taste of Coconut Oil

The Taste of Coconut Oil

On the other side of silence
Are sandy reaches 
Of timeless oceans
Crested with curling white sprays
Of salty foam.

Above, gulls cry their plea
For food and bread crusts
Left by careless sunbathers.

Far down the strand 
Carried by a briny sea breeze
Roll broken verses
Of music from some small radio.

I can still taste the coconut oil
On your warm skin
And see afternoon's hazy rays of light
Scattering across your sleepy eyes.

Far behind our sandy nest
The sigh of tires come
From the beach road
And children's laughter follow
As though chasing 
The transit of holiday families.

In my lengthening years
I have abandoned things
Once thought necessary...
Telephone numbers
Account pass words
Even names of childhood friends.

But as time uncoils
The memory of you
In your yellow bathing suit
Hair swept across your face 
In the sultry July breeze
And your fingernails gently raking
My chest communicate 
Words unspoken
Of the seas and shores
Upon which we will join
When the sun and the sea collide
Decades hence.