Someday, my vacation home will be my home.”
I recall sharing that sentiment with family and friends many times during the course of my career. As retirement drew closer, Rehoboth Beach answered that expectation perfectly.
Rehoboth Beach is many things to different people. For me, Rehoboth contains the important elements of community that I need. A strong cultural diversity provides an interesting and stimulating recipe that keeps this small town vibrant, exciting and progressive. It enjoys one of the most beautiful and inviting beaches on the East Coast. Last, I find inspiration here that captures my curiosity and teaches me to observe and to listen in ways that nourish my writing.
My poem “Beach Lyric” is an example of what I see and hear when I truly look and listen during quiet and personal moments on Rehoboth Beach. The experience reflects beach nature at its best, demonstrated through the compelling relationship of ocean to earth. This interplay is its magic and, for me, creates the sounds and movements of an enticing, creative environment.
When I encounter the beach and surrender to the moment, I discover unique nuances of this place and its sounds. As the beach draws me into its moods, I feel a sense of oneness with it. Its noise becomes my music. It touches me deeply and stirs the heart. I notice (and freely admit) that I come to the same beach location time after time. I am never bored, as there is never sameness. The beach—and every delicate treasure revealed—constantly evolves. All I do is watch, listen and trust. The lyric finds me.
The happy ending?
Rehoboth Beach, previously a vacation destination, is now my home.
Beach Lyric
Listen at a shoreline
as water serenades sun-blushed earth.
Waves collapse in lapis laughter
spilling over opened hearts
painting romance on drifting tide.
Joyful composition abounds.
Sea music mystifies; its touch,
unexpected.
With gossamer rhythm,
the timeless refrain releases
to startle lazy wanderers
who draw portraits on sand.
Surrender to colors of sea-born sounds.
Water-blues and cloud-whites
collide to a symphony of mist and grey.
Iridescent notes write an aria of our affections
in a beach lyric of turquoise shells,
amber glass,
and whispered melodies
offered at a foamy edge.
