Same Difference

Sacred relics that glow in the dark
         adorned w/rust & beach tar
rolling around beneath the seat of a
faded green El Camino
         heading south on the PCH
                  w/pomp & circumstantial evidence

Every time I check under the hood I'm surprised that the
engine is still there
         a marvelous contraption streaked with
         red & green paint,
                  oil & grease,
                           the metal ticking as it cools

The road hums inside a cloak of sea mist that
thins out as the sun climbs into a flat blue sky
as though it was a litmus test gone terribly wrong...

Some folks keep track of the seasons by
watching trees & plants
         I just look at the way the light plays on the
                  surface of the ocean

         listening to seagulls riffing on something
                  Fats Navarro played in 1950
                           recorded a week before he died

& the wind shifts offshore to hollow out the waves
that Spring morning at Playa San Pedrito
as I drained the last of the tequila & w/numb fingers
unlaced my sneakers

Some things are given to you
while other things are taken away

                                                                     Fool's Day 2016