Who knew at the time, that it was a luxury to have the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel delivered to homes in the north? They stopped that service a few years ago and these days the only time we buy it is when traveling. We do read it online but the comics section stays unopened.
Thus, we've lost touch with the couple whose lives seemingly paralleled ours, and sometimes wonder if Arlo ever got his boat.
* * *
He mentioned
a sailboat.
Then mentioned it again.
There was a flagging
of Arlo smiling
as a sloop tied to a coconut tree
bobbed inside his thought-
balloon.
It’ll pass. That’s what
Janis thought, although she never
said it.
He started bringing home
sailing magazines, said,
“It’s something we could learn
together."
That got me soft but I held tight.
Then my mother died and
we bought the boat.
Now I wear a red ball cap
with Catalina Yachts
embroidered in white thread.
We’ve never tied Revision
to a coconut tree.
Yet.
—Skipper Mary