The August heat’s upon me
As I sit behind the wheel
Sad and lackadaisical
And fringed upon surreal
Driving round in circles still
Getting nowhere quickly
I can get obnoxious too
Now that I am sickly
Curve ball hit me in the face
It made me ill at ease
Face so broken I can’t smile
Despite the summer breeze
Summer breeze did blow me off Just like a phony friend
Yesterday we were great pals
Today we saw its end
Summer brought about great change
The spark within me died
It’s hard to show my fractured face
It’s harder yet to hide
So sick to death of my complaints
My wife to me did preach
Forget about your troubles
Let’s visit the nude beach
So smoldering a Friday
About 96 degrees
You really need a break, she said From all your misery
Having nothing left to lose
We drove down to the shore
And walked upon the burning sands
We’d never walked before
And without even pausing
We shed all of our clothes
Every fragment of our skin
Was totally exposed
It’s interesting to note
Although it may seem weird
As I sat there fully naked
My problems disappeared
Things that had possessed me And destroyed my unique style Suddenly now left me
And let me once more smile
I thought my fears would stop me Alas, it was not so
Only one thing scared me
I’d see someone I might know
The tingling feeling felt below Inside the ocean blue
Hard waves pressed against our skin
The sensation quite so new
Then like everybody else
Romping in their glory
Made me want to stop and write A dirty, racy story
But frankly as I stared about
Bare bottoms by my side
I noticed that most bodies Seemed too frail or far too wide
Flabby or too wrinkled
Too bouncy, much too old
I’m sure they felt my body too Was hardly made of gold
I don’t mean to be raunchy
Or obsessed about perfection
But was it any wonder
I hadn’t an erection
Sun was up, sky was blue
I suddenly remembered
I did not apply the sunscreen
To my disenchanted member
Indeed a task so arduous
Without causing some attention But I needed from the burning sun
Some guaranteed protection
Then ever so discreetly
With a towel overhead
I applied a dab of sunscreen While my face was burning red
Uncertain that it was the clothes
I gladly threw aside
Everything seemed better now
I didn’t need to hide
Everything turned clear as day As nightfall took its place
No longer did the whole world Seem to be upon my case
Sure I’ve still got problems
But faith in God have I
Created in his image
For I know now I’ll get by
Before the day was over
We made a few new friends
But I wouldn’t recognize them But for the tattoos on their rear ends.
— Barry Grossman
Grossman is director of business development for Cosmopolitan Staffing Services in Bridgewater. He spends much of his free time writing short stories and poems that reflect day-to-day issues. He lives with his wife and son in Monroe.
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