The Fifth Of October

One night on a beach Changed everything A brush of cloud across the moon The California sand cool To the barefoot touch The lap of waves advancing and retreating We sat upon the shore and listened Ancient tales told by the light of distant stars Held close in the dark Dreams stretching farther than the naked eye could see… One soft kiss Was all it took The wind reaching inside us Breathless Time lost all bearing New worlds were born And the past, like an empty shell Rolling in the wake Receded In the swash of the incoming tide. ~ Laurence Overmire (Previously published in Webstatic, Jan.2000; Poetry the Write Way Anthology, Writers Club Press,2000; Love Poems, Papyrus Press LLC,2024)