To the other E

found via weheartit

'i love,' my friend said, 'to see ships sailing out toward the horizon on the bay.' from the ferry building she could probably see the boats growing smaller and smaller as they were pushed out to sea. she said: 'it makes me sad to see them sailing back in. i want to say, you have a boat! go see the world!'

i, being an inlander, didn't share the sentiment.
i remembered the time i went snorkeling
with my family off of Sugar Beach,
and remembered also that when i stepped into the boat
i was immediately seasick. the floor was solid under my bare feet,
but it rolled and dipped and tugged me in opposite directions,
and when the boat hit the shore i threw up over the side.
man overboard.
an airplane would be a better way to see the world, i decided.
at least the cabin would be pressurized.

to her, i said, 'well they can't sail forever.'

to which she said nothing. to which i said nothing.

to which she said, 'i'm wearing my purple boots, you know, the ones i wore the last time we got indian food.' in the city, before a concert. it was a book club outing. it may have been the last time i wore my purple sneakers. which reminded me that we were living in the moment. we are trying to live in the moment, anyway.

so what we did was this:
last weekend we took a trip south.
it was warmer there, and muggier there,
and the music was just as good as it was up north.
we 'tripped down the 405 with the sunroof cracked open,
and we let our hair down
and composed a rock musical
and ate fast food
and felt good about most things
and felt just all right about others.

coming home was a good feeling. it was not the greatest feeling. afterward we made plans to live in another moment in the near future. maybe one day we will see the world for ourselves on a boat (not likely) or an airplane (more likely) or in a car (please). but for now we're playing

the
waiting
game.

i got your card today, i said. it made me smile.