One Born Every Minute

I’m sitting on a bench at the back of the sand

shaded by a tree-sized beach grape

low dunes covered with unfamiliar yellow flowers

An egret stalks around the other side of the bush

intent on unseen prey

some small bug or another

Down the beach my Beloved stands

feet sinking in wet sand

as she peers intently at something in the water

offshore, some people with more money than sense

have grounded their rented cabin cruiser

on a sandbar, somehow thinking that 50 feet out was deep enough

soon a tugboat shows up to stand watch

the server in the restaurant we went to later

says this happens once a week

the tugboat charges 375/hour and shines the rubes on

telling them they just need a little more high tide to come in

that if they pull them off now it would damage the hull

I love that the tugboat operators make a living off their stupidity

my sense of wanting to stick it to the man

gets to come out and play

so 9 hours later at 375 per, the tide has come back in

and the cabin cruiser floats free

owing the tugboat operator thousands for doing nothing

not to mention whatever the late fees

for bringing the rental boat back late are

I wanted to swim out and tell them I have a bridge for sale

but mostly in this moment I am watching my Beloved walking away

and remembering how her ass felt

bare against my hand this morning