Walking the Boardwalk

This is dedicated to my Dad who just braved cancer surgery and still walks the boardwalk.

There he goes again
Walking up and down the boardwalk
Just like a skinny kid used to

To escape the worries of repeat CAT scans
The same way the boy would escape his father's rage

A freckled punk with hair slicked back
Or a Grandfather grey-haired but still walking tall

They both revel in the sea salt air tickling their nostrils
And the crashing waves buzzing in their ears
The sandpipers scuttling across the dunes
And the gulls fighting over scraps

The boardwalk has changed but the sea has not
And neither has that freckled boy
Walking tall and walking on
There he goes again

15 lines