by Scott Bethay
1.
Profane, breathless June
air thick with perfume
of cigarettes and makeup
Okaloosa Island sand,
sugar-stuck to her skin
moonshimmer wind
emerald swell
I stumbled toward her light
jonesing, too charmed to tell
if I sailed in June
2.
or sink now
in October’s gloaming
O siren of the Redneck Riviera,
be the death of me
christen me gone
scuttled ashore with ragged claws
and pretentious as fuck
3.
Time hinges—
I sleep
and a man walks beside me
dopesick, hands trembling
loved, not deserving
his eyes are mine
I look at him and see nothing
4.
but my wife kisses my cheek
and I wake to lift
my son from the crib
his breath in my hand
my heart in his ear
and in his eyes
a truth
© Scott Bethay
Scott Bethay is a clinical psychologist from Mississippi. He enjoys writing, music, the outdoors, and spending time with his wife and son. He has work forthcoming in Anti-Heroin Chic.
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