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WITH LOVE, THE JERSEY SHORE
I've known you since before you were born. From my Sandy Hook to my Cape May,
your moms and dads came to my fine quartz beaches to swim my waters. Their bright
squares and blooming umbrellas decorated my Junes, Julys, and Augusts. At the end of
each day, they met under my summer stars to kiss and create you, another one of my
beach buddies, another fan who swears I'm the best place to go this summer.
YOUR BEACH BUDDY, TOES IN THE SAND
I came back to you, sought something I thought I had lost—days under your sun
spent with a pail and shovel building wet sand castles. Mom peered over my oil shined
shoulders. The salty smell of your air and noise of your waves encompassed me.
A sand-gritty bologna sandwich, moistened with ketchup, sustained me. Except for
a mind-wave of memories that wash over me, those days are gone.
I have weathered your stormy moods and suffered a love-broken heart and more.
Still, I return to your shores. For what? I cannot retrieve what is lost. Yet, the voice
of your waters and sameness of your elements soothe me. I come back to see the grace
of your gulls, and by your heron priestly shores, I search for a shell that tells the story
of my life.
FOREVER YOURS, THE JERSEY SHORE
Take whatever you can find on these sands. I have remade them: the dunes, the
driftwood, the glass, the bones, the iron bolts of forgotten ships. Make of them what
you will. Shape them into your life as the winds have shaped me and create a new self.
Be inspired! Praise whatever can be praised and visit me often.
Notes From The Jersey Shore… by Frank Finale
"Live Endlessly" by Jack Fusco
