Burial at Sea

At high tide,
Larry jumped into the Sound.
He climbed out and put his clothes on.
He smiled with his gums.
He said,
“I am seventy-two.”

Larry had his guitar fixed. The strings were loose. Then Larry left the guitar
with a friend and said,
“Take care of my guitar.”
It fell from a barstool
to the floor and split the neck
and ruined it.

To the wharf,
Larry brought his guitar.
We gathered
as Larry cried.
We burned a candle.
We each said a remembrance.
Larry hurled the guitar
into the murk under the pier and said,
“That is the second guitar
that I threw under the pier.”

At low tide,
Larry jumped into the Sound.
We helped him out.
He cut his feet on the barnacles
below the high tide line.
He put his clothes on and danced.
Where his teeth once were,
he grinned and said,
“I am over it.I am seventy-two.”