Along the Shore

Salisbury Summer

Summer on Salisbury Beach,

a week at my Aunt’s cottage,

adults worked all day,

Two cousins and I left on our own.

At ten years old unfamiliar,

but desired, days of freedom.

Instructions: “You can go to

the beach but stay near lifeguards.”

Our unknowing babysitters,

who paid little attention,

more focused on bathing beauties,

applying sunscreen, on blankets nearby.

We rode waves so rough

they slammed us into the strand,

filled our bathing suits with sand.

We arose coughing and sputtering

from swallowed salt water

then raced through the surf

to catch another wild ride.

When bored, we walked

to jetty of large, black rocks,

leapt from boulder to boulder,

scraped hands and feet

on slippery, rough surfaces,

while sea pounded through

gaps in rock pile below.

In evening we would wander home,

fall asleep early with expectations

for another day that

would be fully ours.

Lainie Senechal

Published in Ibbetson Street #39, June 2016

Announcement: Lainie will read poetry at The Whittier Home and Tapestry of Voices  18th annual collaborative reading of the poetry of and inspired by John Greenleaf Whittier on Sunday, August 14 from 3-4:30 PM. The poetry reading will take place in the Victorian garden of the Whittier Home Museum, 86 Friend street, Amesbury, MA.