American Venice (WC)

   

(Wendy Cabell, published in Writers At Play Presents: Our Legacy, edited by Daisy Barrett-Nash, Equal Arts, 2022. Also published in Writers at Play Presents: The Art of Letter Writing, edited by Daisy Barrett-Nash, Equal Arts, 2023. From July 4, 2021, Independence Day, and feast day of the Galatea Icon of the Mother of God, and the Synaxis of the Saints of North America. Image from here.)

American Venice

(memories of Venice Beach, California, 1990's)

They say L.A.'s a rough place. But on these

waters, it's gentle here. Edged between an

army and a Saint,

       (map reads: between Marina del Ray

        and Santa Monica; history reads: the 

        Pacific's little Venice; heart reads: you've 

        made it, sanctuary.) So relax,

let the breeze

wash you through. Skate or swim. Have a smoothie.

Sun it breathes, so you can too. And if it doesn't flow,

just let it go.

Over here now, you can settle. My spot, turned

yours too. Where sand branches right, rocks curve

in. Seat for moonsets, sun rising again. Ice cream 

picnics. Page-turner immersions. Till leave all as toes 

splash wave. Waters whoosh, salt its spray, so

relax. Chill if you will. Because it's not as rough

as they say it is. On these waters, it's gentle here.

Guess that's why it slips away now, weight of soul.

Don't know how it is salt does it. Perhaps the

dolphins assist. Glide. Mother Mary

by their side,

       by Synagogue at beach edge,

       by sidewalk artisans and their wares.

       It takes so many forms, our prayers. Till

       joy's the thing in the end. Everything else just

       pretend. Joy that's pure, kind. So the rest, well,

never mind. And then life's not quite as rough

as they say it is. On these waters,

it's gentle

here.

*From combined prompts: Freewrite about a favorite place: local expressions, ways you might describe the place to someone, things perhaps only you notice here, things the place brings out in you or allows you to do, things you have learned about the place. Weave into a poem in progress. Underline what stands out to you, lines that are striking, good sensory detail. Rewrite lines by devices such as: giving further or deeper sensory detail, incorporating metaphors/similes, using repetition of words or phrases. List questions/mysteries about the place, and in the poem answer them (without listing the questions themselves). From Daisy Barrett-Nash's Legacy Poetry, June 23 and June 30, 2021.