Na/GloPoWriMo 2019, Day 25 and the challenge is to write a poem that incorporates:

• Is specific to a season
• Uses imagery that relates to all five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell)
• Includes a rhetorical question, (like Keats’ “where are the songs of spring?”)

https://flic.kr/p/udMBaZ

Summer, Newport Beach
by Michael Romani

It was summer and I was happy to be young and free
A cool breeze ocean child busily surfing and being me
Back on the shoreline we would watch them tan and lay
Running back and forth from ocean's break we'd watch them play

You had your eyes on a million beautiful ladies
I always thought that was more than just a bit shady
After we paddled in, we'd over to Balboa Pier
We thought of it as the Zoo filled with laughter no fear

Bain de Soleil and St Tropez had a science that didn't lie
We got a contact high just from all the girls walking by
As we waited and the remnants of salt water casually dried
We smelled the fish from the mongers as they let it slide

Your dad owning that little beach house right on the beach
Kept the crashing waves echoing and just within our reach
No matter how hot the day, there was always the night breeze
We had to go to the park if we wanted to play among the trees

It was impossible to say whether the waves touched me or I
Touched the waves as we surfed together never questioning why
We needed to nearly always be in the water during the day
And then in night we'd find a fire pit somewhere along the way

They moved those later down to Huntington Beach as I recall
But we'll always remember the crabs we chased feeling giant tall
As our shadows caused them to flee under the jetty rocks
But most of all what I remember are the endless times we'd talk

Whatever happened to those days, cousin of mine?
Whatever happened to the days of forever sunshine?
Whatever happened to two boys like soul brothers?
Is this what growing up and then older looks like for others?

(c)  April 25, 2019  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserved