We walk beside the ocean
Splish-splashing in the tide
Drinking breakfast from a paper bag.
My dreams hang in the air
Like the sickly-sweet wine on my breath.

Hung-over tourists
In striped-pineapple swimsuits
Obscure the beach
In every direction.
Absurd polka-dots on the hot, black sand
Oblivious that there is trouble in paradise.

"We can still be friends" you say
As I take another swig of wine
And pretend not to hear
The words that signal the end of our love.
I struggle to keep my emotions at bay
And change the subject.

Now we sit close together
In silence
And watch the crabs scurry over the rocks,
Me not wanting to shatter this fragile moment
By saying the wrong thing.

And you cannot think
Of anything more to say.
You said it all
When you packed the last chance we had
Into a cardboard box
With the rest of your belongings,
Shattering my heart into a thousand pieces.

April, 1994

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