Beach Time

10-12-20 // Poetry - New Orleans

Rodrigo Toscano

Photo by Yousef Espanioly 

 

 

 

All y’all:

 

Alabama flagger flyin’

Cajun dinghy riggin’

Creole beignet flippin’

Texas gravel haulin’

Georgia trailer hicthin’

Mississippi mud draggin’

 

…Gentlemen…can we talk?

 

All y’all:

 

Emerald Coast revelers

Ruby Coast ragers

Sapphire Coast rompers

Pearl Coast plungers

Onyx Coast splashers

Diamond Coast flap abouters

 

I mean, catch, toss, kick around a bit: 

 

Bent key capitalism

Worn key capitalism

Broken key capitalism

Lost key capitalism

Wrong key capitalism

Keyless fob dead battery capitalism

 

Not the right time?

 

I want to agree,

but ripples over there you can see

the white caps of a dark, purple wave

welling up, curling over, sucking in

the water’s edge of time

and space

to dream

and drift

 

Rodrigo Toscano

Rodrigo Toscano’s newest book of poetry is In Range. Previous books include Explosion Rocks, Deck of Deeds, Collapsible Poetics Theater (a National Poetry Series selection), To Leveling Swerve, Platform, Partisans, and The Disparities. His poetry has appeared in over 15 anthologies, including Voices Without Borders and Best American Poetry. Toscano lives in New Orleans. (Author photo by Clare Welsh.)