That morning had too big a surf
for the flat-bottomed boats
that enter the sea standing
like vaulting fish.
We decided to take the rest of the fifth with us
rather than gift it
to the maids,
and the sand that had blown at the slider all weekend
and ground into the rug -
some of that went home with us, too.

You said you had that dream again,
the one with the woman you dont know
the one who is always staring.
The picture we saw in the lobby when paying the bill
of a dory
leaving the beach upright
gave us a sinking feeling;
the floor dropping away in front of us,
roiling and burbling up again, behind.

Kathryn Rantala