La isla del Padre

Sunday, late afternoon
Drove down to the island
Hoping my 8to5 anxiety would blow out my car window,
Avoid making a casualty of weekend’s end, 
& float into the 88 degree wind before Port Isabel 


Hit the causeway at 6 pm
The reverse traffic all jammed up, cars piling back home 
while I soared cleanly east with a smattering of others


Listened to On the Sea, and flew over the bridge (my zig zag glider above the water)


I drove past surf shops, beachside restaurants, and small businesses clogging up Padre Ave, until they thinned into a sprinkling of hotel resorts.


The sand beginning to rise up and out into the concrete of the road while I continued on for several miles 
past Public Beach Access #1, 2, 3 through 6
I relaxed with every meter as the land became more remote, 
nothing but real estate signs stuck into the hills of green brush and sand
until finally the 
"Road Ends Ahead"
and I parked my car and walked over the ridge and to the sea,comfortably alone but not too isolated, with the occasional Texas truck driving freely along across the sand and a few families dotting up the beach, 
each finding their own corner.   


Walk into the water and it’s cooled off from the heat of midday
All I have to do is stand there and I know 
That I am whole
(no matter how many pieces seem to come dislodged entresemana
Or whether work fills me with elation and purpose or anxiety and inadequacy tomorrow
Or if I make mistakes even though I try so hard
Or if I feel so lonely later on)
And I feel happy here.