I want you to build sand castles

I want you to build sand castles

I want to watch you from the dry part of the beach,

my book temporarily on my chest,

my legs crossed and oily,

my same old swimsuit.

You, out on the damp sand

between me and where the water makes a ring

around your foot with every step,

in your neon suit and perfect skin,

making sand castles.

Some will be generic castles:

Some will say “I love you, Marry Me!”

–Work is work as a professional

sand castle builder.

So I hope on some evenings

when me and the kids are inside

and the chores are done

and you feel free,

you sneak out to the beach

to build an elaborate manor,

mazed with hedges and pools,

chandeliers and a safe in the study

where you can lock your secrets

before the tide comes in

and wilts your masterpiece

into a soppy mound

and your castle and its hedges

and staircases and your secrets

become part of the ocean

again.