Summering in Wildwood, NJ
so bright i can see the sun through my fingers,
each thin vein lit
up blue like a heron’s leg.
this poem is not so much about a beach
as it is about arriving,
blowing stop signs
until the coast affirms
that lines are always changing,
and the tide tells me
my body can morph
as many times as it needs.
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2021 by Kayleb Rae Candrilli, “Summering in Wildwood, NJ” from Water I Won’t Touch (Copper Canyon Press, 2021). Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.