for BL
She can never pass a gift shop window
on the boardwalk without stopping
to look at Indian print beach wraps,
orange and blue buckets, shovels, postcards,
fudge, seagull figurines made of glass, silica
and salt. The rose quartz geode lit from below
glints like a faceted ballet through nested windows
to its flamingo crystal heart. Who can resist the promise
of mixed nuts, fool’s gold, salt water taffy,
stuffed orca whales, lighthouse posters,
starfish magnets and gum balls? A pendant
of Cape May diamonds in a box made of shells,
a ring in seed pearls and cubic zirconia glued to its gold
filled matrix and displayed on genuine black
velvet against her moue of distaste.
She is tapped out and window shopping
but rummages her bag for the few coins
she’ll need to hold the hard igneous flavor
of every August afternoon in the white bag
of rock candy she just can’t live without.