Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Bearhead Bay



painting by Fay Collins

 Bearhead Bay


“There is nothing more beautiful than the way the

ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no

matter how many times it’s sent away.”

--Sarah Kay


My collar

is very blue.

I work with my hands.

I’m a foundry worker.

I operate a crane

that pores molten iron

into nobake molds

to create castings.


It is

hot, dangerous

and dirty work.

I’m on the night shift.

I come home exhausted,

just in time to see

my wife off to work,

and my three kids

off to school.


I only get

one week’s vacation

a year, and we always go

to the coast to camp out

by the ocean

at Bearhead Bay.


We have a small

camping trailer, and the kids

sleep in a big tent.

We bring our own provisions.

It’s too expensive to eat out.

We go in July, when

the weather is mostly mild.


The high point of our trip

is when we rent a boat

and putt over to nearby

Ballard Island for a picnic.

On the north side

there are some rocky outcroppings

where noisy sea lions

like to sun themselves.

While beachcombing we

always find little treasures

to take home with us.

There’s a white beach 

with shallow warm water

where the kids can swim.


The sad point

is always packing up

and heading home.

having to go back to work

for another year

before returning.



Glenn Buttkus


Posted over at d"Verse Poet's Pub




15 comments:

robkistner said...

Charming, captivating, romantic even Glenn. With the kids in the tent, I hope there are no bears at Bearhead Bay. Nice write brother! πŸ™‚

Callsign Santa said...

There is that same feeling I get when listening to Bruce Springsteen's lyrics, that picture painted of the life of that blue collar worker, dotted here and there...

Fireblossom said...

Gosh I know that feeling. It always took me much longer than a week to restore myself from work, and I was very rarely really ready to go back. You've done a marvelous job of describing the vacation week, and the sadness of departure. Nicely done.

Dora said...

Glenn,
Only a week beachcombing for "little treasures" to take home, picnics and sea lions, and how short it seems, making longer the year before your return. I loved the opening lines: "My collar/is very blue" since the painting itself highlights blue, a blue that escapes the collar for a little while. Unexpected ekphrasis that detracts nothing from the painting and invests it with even more meaning.
Pax,
Dora

sarah said...

I like the way the poem uses blue as a symbol of oppression - that blue collar - and then as a symbol of freedom. Its a great response.

Ingrid said...

I love how you've woven a tale of the exhausting working life through this, and that one-week window of hope per year. I bet the kids remember it fondly!

Ron Rowland said...

A nice escape to Bearhead Bay.

Ken / rivrvlogr said...

The labors of a blue collar life make make any vacation or holiday, no matter the length, all that more special.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

This is incredibly gorgeous writing, Glenn! I love how you evoke several moods of blue in this poem, from daily hectic schedule of one's life to times spent with loved ones on vacation. πŸ’πŸ’

Jane Dougherty said...

I remember the long trip home, the sadness of leaving almost wiping out the magic of the holiday.

Kerfe said...

Those weeks are precious gems, helping to keep a bit of the sea inside to get one through the hard times.

brudberg said...

I love the way you describe that gloriocus one week of vacation and how much you still can do with very little... Ain's comment on Bruce Springsteen is very good.

Dana Dampier said...

I feel as if I could be in the stories you tell! Your descriptions are wonderful!

calmkate said...

such vivid imagery, you escribe this lifestyle and it's small pleasures so well. Sadly this is the life of too many ...

A Reading Writer said...

your details took us there with you and our heart breaks with the packing, too.