after being tempted by some random glossy picture,
remembering that the bahamas aren’t like that
to get to them you have to go in your own boat far away
and cross the deeper blue of
did you know that the ocean
has different colors
and different parts
all flowing against each other?
and cross the choppy deeper blue of the gulfstream
rough because you don’t go the way it wants to take you
and pick an island and there you are
and the islands you like best are the ones where no one else is
which is most of them
and your boat on the lee side is the only star in the ocean at night
and you watch the sunset over the bay
and the lights of the cabin and the rattle of backgammon and bourbon on ice
is behind you
and you throw a line in because
you know it’s in there
and it is
and you reel it in and it’s almost as long as you are
and its skin is so rough you bleed
and it lies stretched out on the dock
half an hour later it still moves
and you’re eight years old
white pebble 