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The new year falls from a languid sky
over Ocean Parkway
crimson light
on pre-war bathroom tiles.
One week ago was Labor Day.
Without lifeguards
we are summoned to remember
the world
the dunes, the marsh, the waves
things unsaid, unreturned
sweat, water, salt
we are enjoined to live
truth in freedom
in sun, in sand, in wind
to restore the balance —
name, place, and deed
to free the slaves, regain ancestral land.
In search for our germane lives
we wipe foggy mirrors
wanting to find something else
a sense of fate.
Seeing, not seeing as the sun sets
together, alone
we know
the seasons change, come back.