When school ended for the year and we
Spilled out of the double doors, liberated at last,
I wondered what I should do this summer:
Last summer, I went down to the docks
Running, barefoot, across the wooden pier,
Chasing you while the seagulls soared above
Last summer, I swam at the beach on a sunny day,
My skin coated in seawater and specks of salt,
As I raced you in the glittering waves:
Last summer, I watched you swim,
Marveling at how you effortlessly ducked beneath the waters
And emerged from below with such grace, like a flying fish:
Last summer, I felt like the days blurred together,
And each cicada songed morning, each bonfired night,
Became part of a grainy movie flashback playing in my head:
Last summer, I had ice cream on the boardwalk,
Chattering with you about how school started tomorrow,
About how we should make the most of our lingering freedom:
On the last day of last summer, we went to the beach again,
Splashing in the cold waters overshadowed by grey clouds,
And laughing so hard, so loud, that we didn't even notice
The storm.
Last summer, I was racing with you, far from the shore,
When a wave stirred from the depths, awoken by the thunder
And whisked you away, taking you someplace I couldn't reach:
Last summer, I laid limply on the wet sand of the beach
After I made it back, my ears filled with briney water,
My eyes filled with stinging tears, as I kept asking the sea:
Where did you go?
This summer, I don't have many plans in mind.
I don't think I will do as much as I did last summer,
I don't think I will smile like I did last summer,
But this summer, I will go to the beach once more,
I will bring a bottle with me and write a letter about that summer we spent
And I will let it be taken away by the waves
To wherever you must be now.