The Beach Through Elijah's Eyes

They took me to a place called "beach"
Another world entirely
Where floor is gritty, air is hot
Where wet is good and dry is not

A giant bathtub full of friends
With birds that flew over my head
The ceiling was too bright to see
A world where walls are made of trees

My mother sat me in the dirt
Then laughed and said it wouldn't hurt
When I decided that I'd munch
A fistful of the sand for lunch

She held me in the giant bath
And didn't scold me when I splashed
She didn't try to scrub my back
I never even took a nap

No crib or highchair in that place
No rag to wipe my messy face
I'd never had such room to run
I'd never known that kind of fun

I ran into the tub some more
And ran until there was no floor
And for a second wondered why
It hurt to breathe this kind of sky

Until I popped back up again
In Mommy's arms and saw her grin
And with the floor and ceiling back
We shared a coughing sort of laugh

I thought it would be funny then
To dunk and cough and cough again
But Mommy frowned and called me "dense"
I think it's her that makes no sense

I didn't want to leave that place
When Mommy carried me away
She tricked me with a sippy cup
So cold and sweet...
Then I woke up

And cried to find myself at home
The land of "beach" completely gone
My mommy tried to soothe my cries
To hush my sobs and wipe my eyes

I fought to find the word to say
To tell her how I missed that place
But as my sobs grew stronger yet
All I could think to say was, "Wet."