Good Harbor Beach

Maureen N. McLane

Gull patrol

paranoiac survey

is it “I want to have a lot of sex”

or “I want to have sex a lot”

Paddle ball

wave swell

submerging the fabrics of the ’20s

at the only decent thrift shop

the TV shows still under the spell

of 9/11      and there

the little dictator

gassing his people

and here the handcuffed dead

and now the lifeguard slides

with expert force his tall red chair

backward along the sand to the ridge

the high tide makes at the edge

of the dunes.

Tide coming in

The profit and the loss

A surfboard for rescue

and few in the water

but remote seals and rumored sharks

Illustration by Joey Gonnella

Maureen N. McLane is the author of seven books of poems and of My Poets, an experiment in memoir/criticism. Her latest book of poetry, What You Want, will be published in May.
Originally published:
March 27, 2023

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