Prettiest Thing Ever

You are the shell, covered in grime and goop, oil and sand,
Stuck in the corner of my tire well.

I picked you up because I thought you were beautiful.
You were unique. There was nothing like you to be found
Anywhere on the stretch of beach I searched over.

Or maybe you were just curious, or colored brightly
It doesn't matter. It matters that something moved me
Enough for me to pick you up and carry you awhile.

I couldn't have carried you with me long,
And most of the time you were in my pocket.
Maybe you were forgotten the moment I put you there.
Or perhaps, when I came home and opened my trunk
And pulled out all my valuable belongings,
You forgot to sparkle for me like you had on the beach
When you were the prettiest thing ever in a shell, if you will.
And so, you were left behind when I closed the trunk
And walked the stairs to my screened in porch.

When you are not forgotten though,
When I open my trunk and find you there
And pick you up and clean you off and look at you
And remember that you must've been unique,
That there was nothing like you anywhere on that desolate stretch of beach,
When I know that out of neglect I will let die
Every best thing I'll ever be allowed to carry awhile…

                                                                                     …I will dream of you…
The way you sideways gazed at me with your head upon your arm
The way you gaze at everyone, but
In black and white, yes, how it was all so clear
That bangs should always stick into the corners of lips,
That eyes, smiling, should gaze beneath razor thin brows,
Focus drifting in and out, washing past me like ocean tides.

6/8/99 rev. 6/14/99 & 6/21/99