At The Dinghy
Down at the dinghy
He wore khaki shorts
White t-shirt of Jerome the Ostrich
Playing the violin
Tanned skin
Sun bleached hair-just like his mother’s
He’s an admiral-nobody knows it
She tosses him the key chain
It lands square on his lap
She sits in the stern seat
The captain on her lap
She rocks him back and forth
Kisses the back of his neck
Musses his hair
“Sailors don’t cry,baby, sailors never cry-
Only when their ships go down
Only when they’re shipwrecked-on rafts, with nothing to drink-“
He laughs, he giggles, he bounces on his mama’s lap.
EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2013
Altered Books: Nine Stories/J.D.Salinger
Eva Santiago 