The Bookstore on the Beach

Green Oliver ran a bookstore on Venice Beach

It stocked many modern writers

And Kierkegaard sold especially well

Oliver could always be found in his shocking pink deckchair

In front of the store

Many people considered him to be a slacker

But I knew the truth

For when the store was closed

He would discuss its layout with me

And its relationship

With the dynamics of the night-tide

 

Anita Unclothed

Further down the beach a woman named Anita

Owned a shop selling all kinds of beachwear

She designed everything she sold

And it made her proud

To see her creations

Displayed on the beach

But all was not well

For she knew that the increasing

Popularity of nudism

Would begin to eat into her profits

 

The Lifeguard

Frank had been a lifeguard for over forty years

And now was in his mid-seventies

He still rescued unfortunates

Each day from the sea

Frank had been decorated many times

During his days in Vietnam

And had been a champion body builder

But he was going slowly blind

A fact that he kept to himself

As he knew that there was no call for blind lifeguards

Even here in Venice