"When You Came Home"
Endless hours a long, long time ago
Time ceased to pass
The sun and sky seemed your own
Moments of exultation
Instants of terror stark
The ocean spray, the gathering fog
Your hunger intense,
Assuaged by cheeseburgers,
French fries, Cola Cola,
Thick malts gone too soon
Grains of sand in your trunks
Your bathing suit top sometimes, too,
White goo smeared on your lips and nose
There were stolen kisses
In long walks and under the pier
Inside fetid station wagons
In baking woodies, too
Towels flattened on the sand
Slender girls napping in a row
Dreaming while transistor radios played
Were you there to surf,
To tan your skin or to be
One among many?
From sometimes 8 AM
Till dusk you had a home
Where skimboards slid
Along near the splashing foam
To be a teen
A teen
To be a teen
Have you forgotten?
And when you came home
When you rode home,
Pink skin a-glow
On surface streets
Packed maybe 6 or 8 tight
Sandy feet, damp suit
The vague melancholy
Of leaving the beach
And when you came home
When you crossed Orangethorpe, Valencia,
Commonwealth, Malvern,
Valencia Mesa, Bastanchury
And beyond
In those days so long ago
When you came home
What did you find?
A $15,000 tract home
Railroad tracks nearby or
Industrial vats of tomato sauce?
And when you came come?
Home with four bedrooms or more
Swimming pools, stables,
Tack rooms, a tennis court
A patio for Old Fashioneds
A grill for steaks?
Or a single bathroom six would share?
An apartment with paper thin walls?
Males working on cars outside?
Smoking cigarettes, laughing,
Cursing, spitting,
Making fun.
And when you came home
Was there a book in the house?
Were there rumors of fights?
Car clubs, steady rings,
Drive in movies to attend?
A day at the beach
For surfing or mostly not
Say!
Have you had skin cancer on your nose?
A ruddy chest and milk white breasts?
You may have had yourself
Channeled, chopped,
Lowered, decked,
Raked, louvered,
Flamed, pen-striped,
Tijuana-tuck-and-rolled.
Let it pass.
Does a fuzzy dice hang
From your rear view mirror?
Do you sit practically
On the 4 on the floor
Next to your baby?
Cruising tor burgers 2022.
And when you came home
Did you grow up and move
Back to the beach?
With many a stop in between?
Or did your family
Have a beach home sweet home
Back in the old days
Or the desert or the mountains?
One hundred funerals later
Throw in a wake or two,
A cheery memorial service,
Ashes dropped at sea.
Arthritis, can you digest Delaware Punch?
Heart attack, can you still have onion rings with lunch?
Dreaded diagnosis,
Charlton Heston was Moses!
Your mom was young and pretty!
Your granddaughter’s the spitting image!
Does it skip a generation?
Or did you skip ours?
Diplomas earned, medals won,
Weddings celebrated,
Births and Abraham Maslow’s
Oceanic Moment!
Little League and soccer?
Did you coach?
You went to the beach
You went so often
Southern California kids
We’ll remember when memory dims
The bare bodies, Sea N’Ski,
The molten craving
That surpassed understanding!
Have you had your fill,
By the way,
Of the opposite sex
And electric moments?
Do you remember water polo
Players and swimmers
When their trunks were wet?
Who was stacked and who was not?
Rumors of slut-hood,
Of wild hillside parties
Of gritty Brea oil field hill trysts?
Do you get lucky’
At class reunions?
What a thing to say!
Honestly!
No gift so gay, so bright
It’s on some minds to this day.
And when you came home
Fortunes amassed, lost -
Paradise Regained?
Divorces recorded
Many a tear has to fall
We went to the beach together
In one hundred separate cliques
Do you remember the names?
Have you shaken the dust
Of Sunny Hills from your sandals
As one ’67 fair maiden claimed?
Have you moved on,
All the way on,
Live In The Present
Is the past just a goodbye to you?
Forget your Sunny Hills
Locker combination
And who taught you heartache?
Is Fullerton a distant memory?
Up a distant narrow passageway,
Turn left, climb the stairs
Of your recollections?
Your mom, your dad,
Sisters and brothers,
Dog and cat,
Cookie jar, medicine chest,
Spice rack, sewing thimble,
Liquor cabinet, family Bible,
Mom’s scrapbooks, dad’s pipes,
Tricycle collecting dust.
Lost and gone forever?
And when you came home
To Newport Beach, Temecula,
Galveston, Woodland,
Renton, Ben Lomond,
Irvine, or wherever you hang
Your baseball cap
What a life you’ve led!
So much accomplishment!
Good done, people helped,
The world improved by
Your presence.
How unselfish you’ve been!
You deserve a piping hot
Cheeseburger, tasty French fries,
Delaware Punch, Bubble Up,
Squirt, Pepsi or Coke,
Or would you rather have
A thick chocolate malt?
Vanilla, you say?
Butterscotch?
Strawberry?
Life is like Dr. Beauchamp, Credit Dentist,
For those who mattered most.
Credito Facile!
Even when you’ve been turned down elsewhere!
Remember: You Trust Lou
And Lou Trusts You!
And when you came home,
And when you came home,
When you came home from the beach.
Drowsy, sun-burned,
Full of stale excitement
Awaiting a Saturday night
Of baby-sitting
Drag-racing
Harmony Lane
Retail Clerk’s Union Hall
Hillside
McDonalds
Carls
Taking care of Grandpa
Listening to 45s in your room
Wild parties in Sunny Hills!
Riding around from Brookhurst
To Magnolia
To Spadra and back!
Whatever it may have been!
And when you came home
And when you came home
When you came home, don’t you see?
When you can home.
World Without End,
In the Midst of Life.
When you came home,
— Friday, April 29, 2022