the timbers stand silent
protruding through the surface of
the great Hudson's waters, in defiance,
in remembrance,
as grave markers of an era
long since passed

time has passed,
yet it never fails to jar a
tear from a cloudless eye,
to stir a shudder from these still bones, this,
crisp repeat of the honour guard salute.
through the humid heats of summer,
the blistering colds of winter slumber,
the dewey splendor of springs bloom,
the regal colours of fall's spectacular,
the airmen, the soldier, the sailor and
the marine stand, starched, pressed crisp in
uniform attention, paying tribute, respect
to a fallen comrade of today, and to those
who have come before,
while a weeping bugle's brassy notes
take flight at grave's edge

Gave Kerri her present today. she loved it. first she was amazed at the beach glass i found. apparently its hard to find. my sister who lives down on the jersey shore, said that the easiest place to find it is in a gift shop. And I FOUND A BLUE PIECE. i guess that is like the 4 leaf clover of the beach glass universe. Kerri loved the poem too, asked if she could hang it in her room, i said that was the whole idea behind it. though i wish that i had a frame with a shelve on the bottom so i could have put the glass jar with the beach glass in it on the shelve. it would have looked great. well its pouring here and thundering and lightning. not such good beach weather. talk to you later

don't know where that title came from, oh well i will use it. the beach was just great today. got there around 11am and was there until 6. i guess i have to get in all the beach time possible right now, i start my new job july 25th. i will be training to be an IT recruiter for a firm in manhattan. have no real knowledge of ITish kind of work. i do know that these guys that i am going to be recruiting are very very smart, and make lots and lots of money at the big firms on wall street. so anyways back to the beach. the ocean has warmed considerably in the past few days, as i heard lake erie has too. while walking down the beach i ran into my ex girlfriend. my buddy and i walked by her, and after we got back to our spot (a few beaches down, as they go by streets i.e. Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Indiana.) well when i got back to our spot, on indiana, i txted her that i was coming over to say hi. walked over 3 beaches (about 3 small, very small blocks) and sat down. of course she looked great. that was at about 3:00, didn't leave until 6:00 after we had even walked back to her house and used the bathroom. we talked about out situation, which really sucks, and talked about other random topics that popped up inbetween us trying to figure out what we are to do about our situation. today is her birthday, shares it actually with haikuster. kinda funny i guess. happy birthday haikuster!!!! well i didint get her (kerri) a present, instead i wrote her a poem on really good paper, and framed it. it is actually the beach glass one. the other day while walking the beach i was thinking of her and picked up a piece of beach glass, something she likes for whatever reason, well it is kinda of pretty to look at, and running your fingers across it, it well i don't know it does something. so i had picked up about 5 or 6 really good pieces of beach glass and brought them home with me. after sitting them on my coffee table and staring at them for awhile, i got the idea for the poem, then i got the idea to frame it. it looks really good. black wood frame, an antique, white/ slightly yellowed heavy paper that has a fabric type consistency to it, and it is written in black ink, not like a ball point pen, but a marking pen of sorts. now i just have no idea what to do with the glass. she has a nice jar full on her nitestand, but i wanted to keep this separate. im headed off to Bed Bath & Beyond first thing to see if they have a small glass jar to put it in, i would think they do. she wants to go to breakfast, but i don't think its a great idea. i mean of course i do, but it isn't the right thing to do. of course i had plans for her birthday but those were put on hold at the time of the breakup. its funny i had a lot of things for us to do. there is this beautiful spot out east, if i remember right its just past west hampton. its on rt27 and you need an suv to get to the spot. its on the beach and you can camp there. you go to bed at nite after campfire and maybe a few drinks, and wake up to the crashing of the surf. its like you are on another planet almost because you look out and see absolutely nothing, well maybe a charter boat here or there, but it is simply fantastic. go to sag harbour, i had wanted to bring her home for the taste of buffalo, what better of a time to bring someone home to meet the folks, and experience buffalo when the queen city is at her best. i thought i was going to be really sad after having talked to her, i mean i am sad, but i am also hopeful. not that i am going to wait around for her to get her head on straight, but hopefully she wakes up and realizes that everything was good. i had gone to my friends baby's baptism in albany. two of my friends from the city rode up with me and they had just gotten engaged, then two of our friends still in buffalo, married with 3 kids came out. it was great, and a bit of a downer too, i could see kerri, sitting there with me in that backyard party in the future, and it felt right. over the past 4 years here, in LOng Island, she and i have been in the same places over and over again, and not met until just this past winter. i worked in garden city, and the nite of the blackout 2 or 3 summers ago we all went to this bar Leo's across the street. everyone was outside on the sidewalk cafe drinking. well its not a big bar, and garden city is compareable to amherst i would say. she was there, we were both there for hours. there are other instances, people who we both know. if it doesn't happen, it sucks, it doesn't happen, but if it does, wow, i would not be surprised. one nite my roomate and i were sitting smoking a cigar and having a soco on the rocks and he is very intune with people. great person, i don't have a brother but i would call him one, and he was like ya know eric thats the girl you are going to marry. my 78 year old great uncle said the same thing. i can see it. the best laid plans huh. we'll see.

beach glass lying in
the surf
clear, green, blue, amber
jagged, broken edges softened
rounded, smooth
like pieces of stained glass
washed ashore from far away
castles, cathedrals in dreams
I can only imagine, as I gaze
out upon the horizon, little children
silhouetted in the summer haze laugh
and play at ocean's edge
I hold in my hand, beach glass,
dreams and hopes,
of which are my gifts to you