A new poem by Sarah Vanderveen

One Perfect Hour

After the morning's work
and before taking my son to a doctor's appointment
was one perfect hour
in which I rushed to the beach
hurry, hurry
parked on Thalia Street
and ran across Pacific Coast Highway
water-logged longboard under my arm.
I pulled on my wetsuit
quick, quick
pausing to take note
of a new hole under the left arm, darnit
and paddled out.
The water was still January-chilly
but the warm sun made up for it
and I caught wave after glassy little wave
and watched the pelicans dive
and said
thank you, thank you
when I saw
a pod of dolphins swim by.

 

Sarah Koops Vanderveen is a surf mom, writer, blogger and member of Redbud Writers Guild. She is the former editor of The Mars Hill Review, a literary journal focused on the intersection of faith and culture. She lives in Laguna Beach,Calf., with her husband and their two teenage sons. Read more by Sarah at her blog, "Once by the Pacific."