RAIN AT THE BEACH
By Jennifer Chapis
This light makes me think of a house underwater.
Because the ocean has corners,
I cannot stop looking for you.
Careful, the red jellyfish
washed up onshore
sting after they're dead. My mother said
the notion of a soul mate is
problematic. I imagine a mother and daughter
with dripping hair,
running down the beach
holding hands. Left out in the rain,
a painting of a beach house
sheltering a boat
is still a painting of a house.
Whoever said it's difficult for artists
to be original
probably wasn't an artist.
My new vegetarian lover
ate snails off the house as a kid.