Janet Paszkowski // Poetry

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Sea Cameo

(A haibun poem) 

Off-season at Point Pleasant Beach, a gloam creeps along the sand, stealing my day, 
but I linger. 

Beachin’ on shore, I 

tour the murky Atlantic 

in Old Navy gear 

I encounter an old man in a gray sweater.  He asks me what I think of war, if I would serve 

my country—if need be. 

Before I answer, 

he talks of his cold plunge 

into old battles 

His memories appear to pulse as he swings, twirls, dips, splits and poses for me.  On the beat, five, six, seven, eight, it appears as if his mind’s ear is swinging to the spirits of the Big Bands seasoning the salty air with Arthur Murry’s Tequila Fantasies . 

Strolling the beach boards 

he wore a jacket and tie 

till distant bombs fell 

Without seeming to notice my prosthetic leg, the old man shuffles into the cold night.  The briny air stings my eyes.  I have already served my country I reply, my fingers raking sand. 

Sifting through land mines 

skeletal skewers of shrimp 

remains of crab cakes

Janet Paszkowski is a freelance fiction writer, poet and visual artist. A graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her fiction and poetry have received regional and national awards, and have appeared in literary and mainstream markets .

Date of Publication: 25 Jan 2008