My poem, Beyond Wealth, was published today by OneArt. Here is the poem:

Beyond Wealth

On the deserted boardwalk

at Coney Island,

just before a storm roared in,

gray-black clouds peeked

over the Ferris Wheel—

waves strained the imagination.

On our Sunday holidays,

my dad would eat

clams on the half shell.

He seemed so delighted

by his little routine—

lemon, hot sauce, slurp.

The rest of us

would stuff ourselves

on Nathan’s Famous hot dogs—

the best in the world.

Later we’d sit on the beach

with a thousand others

and bake.

How mom and dad loved

that they owned the sun

and the sand.

They’d never owned

anything as majestic.

Dad called

the subway home from the beach

the Calamine Express—

filled with working stiffs

heading home

for Sunday dinner,

sun-burnt children in tow.

Some would swell the colleges.

Some would patrol the rice paddies.

Some still remember

the sun and the sand.