Time Out Tuesday: Somewhere There’s a Day at the Beach

Hello to you listening in Blue Hill, Maine!

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more) for Time Out Tuesday and your host, Diane Wyzga.

Sometimes art and beauty are all I have to offer. There is always time for poetry; and more so in these days of interrupted summer.

A Day at the Beach

“If he had been paying more attention

to whatever my mother was saying

from under her hat beneath the umbrella,

or watching more closely over my brother,

off playing somewhere with his shovel and pail,

or me, idly tracing my name in the sand,

if he hadn’t had that faraway look,

gazing out to where the freighters crawled along

the horizon – so that when he suddenly

pushed up and off, sand in his wake, visor

taking wing behind him, you could believe,

as he churned toward the glassy water,

that it had just come to him to chuck it all,

this whole idea of family, and make

for those southbound freighters and the islands –

then he might have never seen the arm heaved up,

the lifeguards running just as my father

was lifting the old man out of the surf

and bearing him ashore, the blue receding

from his cramped limbs. And as a crowd closed around

the gasping figure struggling to his knees,

my father turned back to us – sheepishly,

almost, back to the endless vigilance

of husband and of father, which was all

he had ever asked for in the first place.”

“A Day at the Beach” by Peter Schmitt, from Hazard Duty. © Copper Beach Press, 1995.

You’re invited: “Come for the stories – stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a nice shout out on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time! Remember to stop by the website, check out the Services, arrange a Discovery Call, and Opt In to stay current with Diane and Quarter Moon Story Arts and on Linked In.

Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

All content and image © 2019 to Present: for credit & attribution Quarter Moon Story Arts