Today is quiet, a shiny frosty day
not like yesterday's roaring storm
with white foam from the angry waves
gusting eastwards

Outside my house I hear the surf, faintly,
it takes time to calm an ocean
I go down to the beach
no wind at all
I turn my face towards the sun,
blood red, warmth, roaring in my ears

On the frozen sand
young men in old cars
try to kill the seagulls
resting in clusters.
Once, one succeeded
he was my first real lover

His biggest wish was to go on a
safari, and kill an elephant,
I said why,
he told me he wanted to
hear the sound of such a big animal
falling down

Whenever I wanted to see him
he could not give me a definite answer
I said why,
He told me he might break his leg
or be otherwise engaged

His sister always wore
a torture instrument,
some kind of steel corset
I never asked why,
he never told me

We used to go to his grandparents'
house on the beach
making love
out of season
until it got too cold