Mariella in the Sand

I went to the beach yesterday
To see Mariella

The temperature was above eighty
And so I covered myself up in sand
Until all that was left
Was sound of the ocean
And the cool crumbly cookie crumb feeling
Of the individual grains of sand

I wanted to see if Mariella was there

And she was
She always is

That's the nice thing about Mariella

So I burrowed into the sand
Until I came upon Mariella's Sand Cabana
Located right next to the sand castle
That she lives in during the winter

'Mariella, how do you live here? Don't you get sand in your bathing suit?
'Never. Not ever. WAIT! Nope, no, no.'
'That's unusual.'
'Frogs are unusual.'
'Not really.'
'Would you like to brush my hair?'
'YES!'

So I brush the sand out of Mariella's hair
And it takes a REALLY long time

Her gentlemen all stand around her with umbrellas
And every time she scratches her big toe
They all shuffle and move around
Because Mariella doesn't like the umbrellas over her
To stay in the same place all the time

'...And that was when I left Venice...forever...'
'That's a wonderful story, Mariella.'
'I think I'll make a sand balloon.'

So she picks up a pile of sand between her hands
Dips it into a pale of water next to her blanket
Balls it up
And sends it floating into the sky

'The last one went up slower.'

Mariella's little dog Stanley
Keeps eating the sand ostriches
That run around him
Until Mariella clicks her tongue
And then he comes back
And sits on his sand pillow

'You'll spoil your appetite, Stanely'

Sometimes in the summer
Mariella crawls out of the sand
And we go dancing in the ocean
Reciting lines from 'From Here to Eternity'
And making Stanley be Deborah Kerr

Then we raid the cooler
And eat the jelly squares my mom made us
With toothpicks in them
And little strawberries
Sticking out of the toothpicks
Like umbrellas

But now it's cooler out
And we can't go to the beach as much
Because I have to go shopping
For school clothes

'Mariella, would you like to come home with me?'
'No, darling. I like it here on the beach--in the sand.'
'But what about when it's winter and nobody will be here anymore?'
'I don't mind being alone. And I have Stanley, of course.'

Stanley frowns when she says that
But I don't think Mariella notices

She thinks she can be alone
But that's only because
She never has been

It starts to rain
And all the men with the umbrellas
Take out extra umbrellas
To make sure Mariella won't get wet

'Boys, relax, I like a little rain with my lemonade.'

They move the umbrellas
And she stands up
And takes my hand
And we run into the ocean

Water coming down on us
Water down below us
Water, water, water

Mariella picks me up
And throws me into the air
And instead of falling

I go up, up into the sky
And Mariella flies up to meet me
And we float there
In the rain
Amongst the sand balloons

And we wait to come down
But part of me hopes
That it won't be
For a very long time