Autumn morning
Again
Ditch Plains
Off-shore easterly
Surfers riding a chest-high swell
Seagulls skating the crest
A bright sun
No sunglasses
Squint
Richie Boy thinking
Work or surf___
A fishing boat chugging to harbor At least twenty aged surf bums On the break___
We
On the beach
Richie Boy
A friend for almost fifty years
On a bench
Rubbing his knee
Surveys the ocean
Rubs his knees
Yesterday morning
A good hour in the line-up
Pushing it hard__
Now rubbing his knees
No surf today
We look at each
We are going to work
But
Just not yet___