<\/p>\n
We were about to die, but it seemed so funny:
\nthe sudden storm cloud unfolding above us
\nas if we were a pair of cartoon characters
\nhaving a bad day. We could see the beach,
\nour empty chairs, and the other couples
\nholding drinks and each other\u2019s hands,
\nwhile for each stroke shoreward, the sea
\n(the wind or the waves or both?) pushed
\nour rented kayak two feet seaward. You knew
\nmy hockey-shattered shoulder weakened us
\nin one direction. I knew that pain
\nwas better than drowning. Ten years later
\nyou ask what I\u2019d say to the couple we were
\nin those first years of debt, lost jobs,
\nand the baby we almost lost but didn\u2019t.
\nI tell you I\u2019d want to say, \u201cCalm down, kids,
\ndon\u2019t worry so much.\u201d But I take that back.
\nThink of the storm and how our fear made us
\npaddle harder and taught us to do it together.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
James Davis May We were about to die, but it seemed so funny: the sudden storm cloud unfolding above us as if we were a pair of cartoon characters having a bad day. We could see the beach, our empty chairs, and the other couples holding drinks and each other\u2019s hands, while for each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8180,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[889,6,1957,1945,201],"class_list":["post-8179","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-aquifer","tag-aquifer-the-florida-review-online","tag-james-davis-may","tag-literary-feature","tag-poetry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n