Avalon Bombshell

Episode 7: By Any Other Name

Porchlight Greeting

Pea & I leave
the House of Gates.

It was dark before,
but now it's pitch black.

Far from quiet, though -
Cape Christopher is no city,
yet the cicadas, and the frogs

and the sea...

~ always the sea ~

keeps the air alive,
keeps the world alive.

the Ocean is always close here.
& so is its smell:

salt spray,
seaweed,
fish on the wind -

it'll always
remind me

of home.

Which is where
I'm sitting right now,

facing my parents
on their back porch:

their rickety old house
standing behind them
in the starlight.

I'm surprised to see
the porch lights on -

I'm even more surprised to see
my parents up and awake this late

(but on a night like this,
who can blame them?)

They're sitting on deck chairs
wearing nightgowns,
eating cheese & drinking wine

(You can take
the Europeans

out of Europe,

but you're never
gonna take all
the Europe
outta the Europeans...)

like it's the most normal
thing in the world
to do at midnight.

But even in this
low light,

I can see
their expressions:

they obviously
have not been able
to fall asleep.

"Hi guys." I wave quickly.

I do love them, but
I hope this doesn't last long

(cuz A - I have
a long journey
ahead of me

& B - talking emotions
with middle class British people,
particularly when those
middle class British people
also happen to be your parents,

is about as much fun as

slamming a door
onto your naked
big toe -

again & again & again...)

"Hello Matthias,
how are you
holding up?" Mum asks.

~ green eyes
full of worry ~

even after
all these years
of putting up with me

time has done
nothing

to dull those eyes.

I've seen pictures of her
from back in the day,
when she first met Dad.

& her eyes
are what stand
out.

She was beautiful too,
of course - with that
short blonde feathery
eighties hair,

which made her look
a little bit like
Princess Diana -

but like Princess Diana,
Mum's eyes are what
draw you in.

(I often wonder if
Princess Diana woulda
looked a little like
Mum does now -

~ had she
lived ~

gracefully graying hair.
a wise smile.
a free laugh.

but right now?

all this vision
makes me think
of is