The Indicator x The Student: “Ecology of a Beach House Love”
In honor of Spencer Williams ’24 and his contributions to the Amherst community. His piece “Ecology of a Beach House Love,” originally published in the Spring 2021 edition of The Indicator, depicts a tender relationship within the walls of a beach house.
kind sun and gentle light
flutters rosy fingers behind pale curtains
and dips over your shoulders to settle and sleep.
at our feet the dog
siiiighs
and his lazy head drifts upward
with a smile :) toothy and warm.
all is quiet, safe, and calm inside this beach house.
outside now and the world’s edges |||
have been smudged \\ s o f t
like melted sugar, or dancing streams stuffed with snow.
your fast ankles flash pale over the cliffside;
the wind l
c u r s
the hair nestling your neck and i think
when you were born the sun must have cradled you in its arms
and gave you a burnished heart with tulips
framing the s o f t center,
where you must have been kissed by – stars.
someday after our breaths turn metallic and your hair
splin ters at its ends
they will
bury
us
side-by-side.
the archeologists who find us will touch your bones
locked
in mine.
and they will marvel at us.
how we believed everything we felt was brand new, with sweet lemon polish,
how we peeled each other fruits in the early dawn,
how we spent afternoons with the windows open and the piano loud.
but for now,
we have time.
so we sit by the ocean
and watch the water crowding
o v e r
sandy bumps and shells.
let’s do this again, again, again –
like each time something takes flight.
like each time a strawberry field wakes beneath cold kisses of morning new.
like each time
the dog siiiighs
and his lazy head drifts upward with a smile
:)
toothy and warm.
–
all is quiet, safe, and calm inside this beach house.
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