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@@@@@At
the end of that boardwalk, a thousand or
@@@@@At
the end of that boardwalk, a thousand or so years
ago, I'd met the big man I was now leaving behind
He had been sitting under a striped umbrellaHe
had offered me iced green tea, very coolingAnd
he had said, So - the limping stranger arriveth at
last
And now he goeth, I thoughtThey were watching me
"Muchacho!" Wireman called
I thought he was going to ask me to come back so
we could think about this a little more, talk it
over a little moreBut I had underestimated him
"Vaya con Dios, mi hombre
I gave him a final wave and walked around the
corner of the house
iii
1097
So then I took my last Great Beach Walk, as
limping and painful as my first ones along that
shell-littered shoreOnly those had been by the
rosy light of early morning, when the world was at
its most still, the only things moving the mild
lap of the waves and the brown clouds of peeps
that fled before meTonight
the wind roared and the waves raged, not alighting
on the shore but committing suicide on itThe
rollers farther out were painted chrome, and
several times I thought I saw the Perse from the
corner of my eye, but each time I turned to look,
there was nothingTonight there was nothing on my
part of the Gulf but moonlight
I lurched along, flashlight gripped in my hand,
thinking of the day I had walked here with Ilse
She had asked me if this was the most beautiful
place on earth and I had assured her that no,
there were at least three others that were more
beautifulbut I couldn't remember what I'd told
her those others were, only that they were hard to
spellWhat I remembered most clearly was her
saying I deserved a beautiful place, and time to
rest
1098
Tears started to come then, and I let themI had
the flashlight in the hand I could have used to
wipe them away, so I just let them come
iv
I heard Big Pink before I actually saw itThe
shells under the house had never been so loudI
walked a little farther, then stopp |