Monterey Pop

Monterey Pop

I walked past the city of bones
and the smiling bodies
all plump and tattooed.
Corpse Bride danced
with flowers in her hair
and a dress that sparkled
like the stars in the sky.
Then the fog rolled in as always.

I didn’t want to leave
the flower of my youth,
the sea foam that made me,
the Victorians that arched around my heart.
I promised I’d come back
when I retired
like a sea witch
to walk the sands with ageless feet
and mermaid’s hair.

Until then, the cypresses
will tilt their heads at me,
the seashells will dry in the sun.
I will walk on fire and stone and earth
until the water wreathes my ankles
and I can swim with the stars again.