Wake

No more streets
full of angry neighbors
shaking all the trees,
the water runs clear.
The Ferris wheel
bends in the wind
with no one riding
but the lights stay on
all summer long.
Couples hold hands
on rocky beaches
finding places
for their blankets.
The line cooks
walk to their cars
after closing
numb to their fresh burns,
and buzzing from
cold soda mixed
with nicotine.
High school ends
for another generation
borrowing nice cars
from their parents
to speed all over this
small town before
it wrangles them.
A stowaway tossed overboard
three days ago washes up
below the bright beam
of the lighthouse,
but in the haze of his
awakening he is certain
it can only be the sun.