Dreamboat

That was the summer we built the boat.
We were going to sail it on the bluest ocean
wild waters filling our horizons.

We bought a hull and a manual.
We studied rigging, tide tables,
the Handbook of Knots.

All summer we sealed and sanded
we fitted it with a teak deck
where we would lie back, gaze up

we’d drift on summer songs.
We gave our ship a bright striped sail
Revlon red - to contrast with the sky.

By August the tarmac was sticky
varnish bubbled, our sail hung limp
my lipstick had melted in its tube.

The ocean had shrunk to a puddle.
We were lush with heat.
Relentless days bled

into star-rinsed nights
and I longed for cool water
I longed for you to take me out to sea

but summer had set sail
and our boat was still in dry dock.