Redneck Riviera 3.0
(a love story)
DestIny by the Sea, capital I
because humility is for the land side of 30A.
The guard waves you through.
He's seen too many ragtops
mistake a gate code for salvation.
-
Trophy wives leave sand prints at dawn,
delicate as subpoenas,
jog back to kitchens quartzy enough
to host a countertop jubilee.
-
The manatees surface later,
pink and round and prosperous,
carrying stainless tumblers
like chalices of hedged risk.
-
They float in infinity pools,
debating decibel limits
and whether the new seawall
counts as a capital improvement
or just another middle finger
to the Gulf.
-
of America.
Four o’clock sun, and the
Veuve glows like liquid alimony.
Old folks’ polyester at the Peg Leg,
where the shrimp are battered in nostalgia
and the mai tais are strong enough
to make 1978 feel like last week.
-
The retired CPA from Meridian
lifts his glass, declares
“This could be a P.F. Chang’s.”
His wife nods, dreaming of orange chicken
and the feng shui of a reliable chain.
-
The working men hit the dive
with the karaoke machine,
trade boots for flip-flops
that cost more than the boots.
-
They lean into the bar while
Their wives grab the mics
and make the room a borderless country.
-
Selena’s ghost grinding with Garth,
ranchera vowels curling around a steel guitar
like bougainvillea hugging a chain-link fence
in the prettiest way.
-
The screen strobes spurs and smashed piñatas,
nobody flinches.
The new creole.
Spanglish and Skynyrd
claiming the same stubborn sand.
-
Outside, the Gulf keeps its own counsel
in a language older than deeds,
older than destiny,
older than the idea that any of us
get to keep what we build here.
-
Different trucks in the lot now:
some with toolboxes, some with surfboards,
some jacked up to outrun inflation
and the king tide.
-
Same sunset, though.
Same small riot of light
negotiating its surrender
with a horizon that refuses
to sign anything permanent.
-
The gulf doesn’t care
what you call your gated destiny.
It only asks that you leave
before it changes its mind
about the truce.