Losing The Cottage, Beach Road, Amagansett

Every once in a while

a place becomes a part of you

and you take it with you

wherever you go.

You remember the rooms

and the color of the walls

and the smell of the sea.

You can feel

that feeling you get

from not wearing shoes

most of the time.

And isn't it funny

that when we take off our shoes

and feel the sand on our feet

that the whole world goes away

and all that's important is

how the ocean looks -

and is it cold?

So you try to remember

the colors in the sunset

because you need to take them with you.

You know this is it:

a chapter is closed

a dream interrupted.

And you know

that from now on

that "Residents Only" sign

at the top of the street

means you, too.

So let the weeds grow up through the gravel driveway

let the garden seed itself

let the quail and pheasants

have the run of the place

it always belonged to them anyway.

I can remember it for the right reasons

and keep my bottle of sand on the windowsill

and sometimes

when I open it

I can smell the ocean.