running off into the sunrise #hbdsunny!

i. “a wide-brim sunhat and knee-length white dress / and a patterned blanket spread out on the beach”

a picnic beneath a butterscotch cloud / and two basketfuls of questions. / tongues running out / of smiling mouths and crinkled eyes, / with a pause for midday stargazing./

squinting at the sun. / seeing double / while your laughter dances itself over and under the tide, whipping back and bowing to its lady knight. / during it all, you shine in the way waves shimmer down depth./

then: a simple lull in the tide / a stillness arranged by the noises of the clouds. / a perfect orchestra./

swells dip their heads to foam at the crown of yours / (the seat of the crown you always wear). / sure to water the peony kissing your temple, / they gift whispers of aeaea shore graces. / (and their love does not break skin)./

as the ocean ebbs, her waves cup your smile in cheeks, / their peaks glowing and new. / we watch as a golden aftertaste nudges the corners of their mouths / skyward./

ii. “where your fellow locals introduce you as ‘the island’s sweetheart’”

the island must be in love with you, truly, and you deserve it so. / its sands have promised to hold through book-pourings, / and its people have named themselves your family./

this land’s gasps and summer breezes have brushed the words beneath your fingertips, / marveling at your garden of poems and proses. / this world has witnessed your worlds. / for that and much more, it clasps its waters to its shore in thanks./