February’s Beach

She’s having that ‘Feeling’ again.
Came like a lightning strike
smashing through the soul armour
and bullseye-ing
the deplorable vulnerability…
lost, inside.
Her mind instantly regresses
backwards
across previous episodes,
like mental stepping stones.
The last time, at the tail-end
of her mid-thirties divorce…
where everything turned
blinding, migraine white.
Then the breakdown
of her early twenties…
the desperate days
of snapping and buckling,
and the safety bar
forever just out of… reach.
Before that,
the chaotic maelstrom of adolescence,
where confusion,
schizophrenic emotions
and anger… took turns
throne-ing the embarrassing days.
Back, finally, to late childhood,
and February’s Bleak Beach,
where, she was forgotten, temporarily,
like a picnic blanket, after the fact,
or a birthday cake,
placed unconsciously
upon the roof of a car
whilst the door is being opened,
before then driving thoughtlessly… away.

Paul Tristram is a widely published Welsh writer who deals in the Lowlife, Outsider, and Outlaw genres.  He wrote his first poem as a teenager following his release from the (Infamous) Borstal ‘HMP Portland’, and he has been creating Literary Terrorism ever since.  His novel ‘Crazy Like Emotion’ is available to purchase right here . Also his collection of shorter fiction Kicking Back Drunk ‘Round The Candletree Graves' is available to purchase at https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0DFMTSR4F Both books are published by Close To The Bone Publishing. Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul's website.