beach music (poem 7/30)

for Tina Toran

1.
a great beast approached the women
who laid on the dunes in summer
to let the sun darken their skin

its sides were deeper brown than skin
with flags of great, cloud like white
and beams that moaned with every turn.

the women, from fear of the great sea beast,
ran to their children and ran to their men
to warn them of the oncoming threat.

2.
the mighty sea baron took anchor in hand
and lobbed it overboard at the first sight
of grassy foreign land he came across.

he did not notice the women yelling
as they ran away from his anchor
failing to land on them, although it tried.

his roar was mighty and demanded his crew
to saddle up and prepare to explore
this bountiful new world he had discovered.

3.
it took the baron's crew six hours
to ready themselves for their magnificent landfall
because the band's piano needed tuning

and no man dare make a great discovery
without a full orchestral soundtrack
to accompany  his triumph, especially the baron

a man of grave pomp and opulent circumstance
that would make the very queen of the empire
weep in admiration for his efforts and ruffled collars.

4.
the women's men were ready for the beast
to attack them with what mythical forces
they knew it must possess, the way it hollered and sighed

they had never heard so many terrible sounds
coming from one such terrible creature
as the black beast form the sea that loomed off their shore,

they sent warning cries and beat their drums
to ward off the great threat that came form the sea
and scare it away with their traditional songs of war.

5.
upon reaching the shore the baron was greeted
with great hooting and howling and wailing
and drumming beats and stomping feats and whistling,

so enamored with the natives' sounds
the baron commanded his orchestra
to learn the rhythms and beats of these natives

so that he might bring beach music back to his queen
and be awarded the highest honor of all;
the balcony at the opera and a glass of sherry with her Majesty.