THERE WERE RED FLAGS by Mike Turner

There Were Red Flags by Mike Turner

There were red flags

That cold December morning

A nor’easter blowing in off the Atlantic

Stirring the bare sands

Bending the dune grasses

“Let’s stroll down the beach

and see what there is to see”

Said Gram

In short gasps

Across the breakfast table

We bundled up and set out

Gram walking slowly

Steadying herself with an old staff

Me mimicking her gait

With an unstrung bamboo fishing pole

Down to the high water line

Dark grey-green breakers cresting

Crashing ashore, dragging the sand back out

Wisps of foam laying atop clumps of seaweed

Marking the advance of tide and time

“Look! Portuguese Men of War!”

Called Gram

Pointing to the pink/blue balloons

Reddish tentacles strewn across broken shells

Gram’s face flushed from cold and exertion

We walked what seemed like miles

Using our sticks to poke the jellyfish

Popping them, watching them deflate

At first we counted our take, but lost track

In our relentless trek

Turning seaward, we looked out across the waves

Nothing between us and the coast of England

Portugal, Gibraltar, all the Old World

Blown across to us here in the New

Flotsam and jetsam, hope and memory

At length Gram stopped and turned

Audibly rasping now

“Time to head back,” she said

And we retraced our steps

Trudging wearily along the hard-packed beach

Next morning, Gram stayed in bed

While Mom made toast and tea

And Dad strapped our bags on top the DeSoto

Gram’s hug warm as we said our goodbyes

Snuggled and sweet under her scratchy crocheted afghan

A few days later

We got the call that Gram had left us

I sat, mourning her departure

Not expected, yet not surprising

As the turning of Autumn to Winter

I was glad of our adventure

Two knights of Neptune, wielding our swords against the sea’s dragons

Living an interlude of companionship and love

Not knowing it would be our last time together

But there were red flags

Mike Turner retired to the Alabama Gulf Coast after more than 25 years as a Federal law enforcement executive. An adult ed ukulele class opened the world of music and songwriting to Mike; with more than 200 original songs to his credit, he was featured on the “15 Minutes of Fame” stage at the 2020 Monroeville Literary Festival. Mike has had more than 280 poems published in more than 30 literary journals and anthologies. His poetry book, Visions and Memories, is available on Amazon. His poem, “A Sense of Peace,” was awarded the 2023 Roger Williams Peace Award for Writing by the Alabama Writers’ Cooperative. When not writing and recording, Mike explores the backwaters of the Northern Gulf with his wife, Pamela Caudill, on their recreational trawler.