The Honeymoon

        After the wedding, the honeymoon, of course. Ours was in Trinidad, a small town on the north coast of California. We walked through the redwoods, strolled on the beaches, ate great food, drank good wine, had massages, and walked through the old parts of Eureka and Arcata. All this was made possible because of our honeymoon registry. (Since we won't be living together, we asked for no gifts. Would we tear the picture in half and draw straws for the toaster?) As thank-you notes, I wrote poems describing various parts of the honeymoon that people had specifically paid for. They'll work for a blog post about the honeymoon, too.

Turtle Rocks Inn

From our room in Turtle Rocks Inn

we could look across the ocean 

to its blend with fog and sky.

Muted circles of green and gray

spotted its surface like the back of a turtle.

Whitecaps clawed through ocean depths

rolled over themselves and sank from sight.

Waves split their sides against rocks

or disappeared beneath the bluff 

on top of which calla lilies and foxgloves 

brought earth-awareness into ocean scene

at Turtle Rocks Inn

A Hike through the Redwoods

Daylight enters redwoods from above 

changing color as it slides down long trunks 

catching viridescence through lacy limbs 

mutating with ochers around bark

changing like light streaming through stained glass,

complying, as it drops to ferns, 

to the supremacy of the trees

who are both the structure that holds the numen

and the god-being itself

the spirit by whom all who journey here

become different beings

by being here

in this cathedral

of arboreal gods.

Dinner at the Larrupin’ Cafe

“Larrupin’”

(LAIR-a-pin)

developed from the verb “to larrup,” 

meaning “to thrash”

indicating a thrashing good dinner

at the Larrupin’ Café in Trinidad,

on the north coast

of California

served at a honeymoon-private table 

in a corner with a vaguely Eastern décor
(samurai picture, tapestry rug)

good food steaming on the plate

a good red wine sparkling in the glass 

ocean larruping below 

everything combining 

for a larrupin’ good first night  

of a larrupin’ good honeymoon.

The Feel-good Profession

Massage is the profession

of making a person

feel good.

Nurses ease your pain

but don’t necessarily make you

feel good.

Physical therapy induces pain

before you 

feel good about it.

Feel-good 

is usually a by-product

of the musician’s aim.

A good chef can make you

feel good, too,

but overindulgence makes you

feel bad

whereas massage 

as far as I’m concerned

could go on for hours

and never cease 

to make me

feel good.

A Day in Arcata

Art galleries

Where Mike bought a bride’s gift (art-piece earrings)

And I bought a groom’s gift (an art-piece photograph)

Victorian houses ornate with turrets and curlicues

Good coffee, pastries

A bookstore

A fabrics shop

And the start of the three-day kinetic sculpture race:

The elaborate Hippy-otomus with its six pedalers,

The rainbow zebracorn blowing fire from its uni-corn

The man trampoline-pumping his vehicle down the road

All for the glory!

and a glorious honeymoon day.

(Honey) Moonstone Grill

Atop a coastal bluff

(fishing boats tiny in the harbor

beach-walkers dots of movement 

cloud-dispersed rays of evening sun)

at a table for two under large windows

a cocktail toast to our marriage:

pear vodka with elderflower liqueur for Mike

apricot liqueur with Prosecco for me

dinner beautifully presented, perfectly cooked:

salmon for Mike, swordfish for me.

Desserts: cinnamon cream brulée and

double chocolate coffee (vodka, chocolate liqueur) 

a honeymoon meal

at a honey-moon-stone place

The True Meaning of Honeymoon

“Honeymoon” originally referred to the way love wanes 
      (they say),

mutual sweetness diminishing after marriage.

Now it means the time beforelove wanes, 

as when one says, grimly, when quarrels begin, 

“I see that the honeymoon (when we sweetened each other’s 
      days and nights)

is over.”

But I think the term refers to the moon sweetened through 
      newlywed lovers’ eyes 

or the way I was mooning over my honey, 

all last week

on my honeymoon.