WITH FRANZ IN SURF CITY
Sadly I see
You in your joy,
Caught in the frame of a stuttering film,
I see sadly
The near-four boy
Under blond crown with fine tanned body
Sprint the shining strand
This side of the sun and the breakers,
My one true Surf City son
Alive in the Pacific spray.
Sad that in time’s headlong plunge
I will never know you at your best
Or comfort you when it’s worst.
Then we live now,
When there is no sorrow in faces,
Only the bright light of day
And the gleam of foam around your ankles.
(8/28/96)