My Hometown_Cocoa Beach

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Random First Lines: Chapter 2... : Young Adult » Read

Essay By: apodiform
Poetry

Tags: hometown, beach, nostalgia, waves

Every time I come home I feel this way. This time I decided to capture it in words. View table of contents...

Submitted: Jul 6, 2008 Reads: 75 Comments: 13 Likes: 5

I smell you before I see you

My nostrils filled with salty delight

My lungs breath deeper

Nowhere on earth

Your pulsing rhythm steadies my heart

Your soft padding cradling my steps

The surf a balm to my soul

Recharging and refilling my depleted stores

My feet pad along, sinking, as my legs lengthen

The big blue sky going on forever past the skyline

Seagulls screech off in the distance

I am almost humming I am so happy

Cool water splashes onto my ankles

A tiny crab scurries into his hole

I must walk under the fishing line

As a surfer waits for his perfect swell

I left this place, searching for adventure; and myself

A niche for me in the world

Confining and mundane, I thought you

I wished to travel the globe back and again

But as it is when we grow wise

I realize that I might have had it all the time

My heart belongs here

My spirit never left

Fill me up

So that I may come back to rest

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Comments:

Phil Neale 1952

Thank you for the nostalgia that this work brought to me.

Phil

Posted: Jul 7, 2008

Author Comment:

Happy to oblige! :)

secondchance

Wonderful! Bold, confident writing and a lovely subject to which I concur, 'home is where the heart is'.

Posted: Jul 7, 2008

Author Comment:

Thank you! I guess the point of this poem was that I didn't realize how lucky I was to have been born here until after I moved away!

PhoebeMiller

Ah, you have me longing for a little stretch of beach I call "home." Hope you enjoy yourself, Emily. :) Heck, I know you will!!

Posted: Jul 7, 2008

Author Comment:

Oh yeah? And where is that? Oh, I'm enjoying myself to death. You can be sure of that!

That must be relaxing, Em! I love the sight, the sound and the smell of the beach. I love to see the sunlight dancing upon the waves, and the wind waltzing with the waves. Ahhhh...Then, I love to get a handful of sand, toss it over and see it blown away by the breeze. That feels like home. :-)

You did write a wonderful piece with a very heartwarmimg thoughts. When you wrote "I smell you before I see you", that exactly defines a home.

A Great Read! ^^

Posted: Jul 8, 2008

Author Comment:

Yes, very relaxing! I love everything that you mentioned and more! I couldn't possible have mentioned it all in a poem :) Oh, I put the smelling part because to get here you have to take two bridges and when you hit the first one, before you can even see the ocean, you can smell it as you come over the bridge ;)

Nixie

Aw, there's so much truth in that. When I went travelling I thought I'd not miss home at all. I was such a home girl after that. I was changed but very attached to what I knew. Cocoa Beach sounds so lovely, while I was reading it I was walking along with you. It was a sweet poem, Em. :) ~ Nixie

Posted: Jul 8, 2008

Author Comment:

Thanks Nixie! Yeah, I was so impatient to experience the world and didn't realize until later how much I'd miss it. Le sigh.

Pratibha

I smell you before I see you
My nostrils filled with salty delight
My lungs breath deeper
Nowhere on earth

I left this place, searching for adventure; and myself
A niche for me in the world
Confining and mundane, I thought you
I wished to travel the globe back and again
But as it is when we grow wise
I realize that I might have had it all the time
My heart belongs here
My spirit never left
Fill me up
So that I may come back to rest

Oh EMILY, U did it again...wove a web of magic all around us....
Reminded me of my own small town where I grew up....The small towns have this 'charm' and 'innocence' which the big cities can never contemplate...right?

Last year we were in Toronto...I thought moving to London( Canada, Province Ontario) would be depressing since it is a small city....GOSH...i was SO WRONG....

This place is MAGIC...MAGIC INDEED...reminded me of my childhood days....
will send u snaps soon in ur mail id sweety...

THANK YOU SO MUCH...Hiya sweetheart , u should write more poems....What about trying a short story?

Posted: Jul 8, 2008

Author Comment:

Awe, thank you Pratibha! Well, it's kind of a small town and kind of a tourist trap. It doesn't feel like a small town, but then after a while you figure out that everyone knows everyone and knows everything about you. It's kind of funny. I'm glad I could bring back that feeling for you! Glad you have found a home that you like! My next project shall probably be a memoir though; a surprise ;) Definitely send snaps!

raindown

I think for some of us, nature leaves a memory imprint on our souls...something we recognize and immediately tune into when cued...by such sensory detail. Places like this one for you, and my river for me, give us perspective and bring us down to earth...it is special;) and you did beautifully, nice job!
~rain

Posted: Jul 10, 2008

Author Comment:

Ooh, that is a wonderful way to think about it! You're right; it's like something is imprinted, so that when I come home it's like something aligns and I am at peace. Thank you for the wonderful comment! ~Em

stephhlebreton

wow, I felt like I was RIGHT there. haha, suddenly I have the urge to go to YOUR hometown, lol. This was really wonderful Em! I LOVED it!!!
Steph(:

Posted: Jul 13, 2008

Author Comment:

Maybe you were. Were you in cocoa beach, fl a couple weeks ago, watched a woman walk down the beach with her ipod, her shoes flung behind her? LOL. Seriously, I'm glad I could take you there! Thank you!

gerabel

To quote Dorothy... "There's no place like home... There's no place like home..." A "wonder-full" write, full of spark and energy and visuals. Your bio says Seattle is your favorite city, I believe... BUT-BUT-BUT... Have you ever spent any time in BOSTON????? LOL
Sorry, but I'm a die-hard New Englander, living just outside of Boston and I love it here!!

Have a grand day.....Jerry (^_^)

Posted: Jul 14, 2008

Author Comment:

Thank you Gerabel! Hahaha. Actually, my whole family is originally from Beantown! But most of them have since moved to florida. I went to a wedding there a couple years ago and it was surreal because I was visiting all of these places I'd only heard about all my life. I think I would love Boston except for the driving. It was insane.

Lacey Cummings

Emily this was really beautiful. The reader can feel all the emotions that you feel for home. Never been to Cocoa Beach, but it sounds wonderful after reading your poem. My own hometown is in the midwest and I always think of golden velvet wheat fields and lush green woods when I think of home. Love your poem!

Posted: Jul 29, 2008

Author Comment:

velvet wheat fields and lush green woods. Mmmm. See, you make yours sound so nice too! What is it about that place where we were born? I'm glad you liked it! I'm at home again, but I always have a hankering to be back in my hometown; always. Moi!

Jak Sylvian

Hey Wolvie, long time no speak! Had to stop by and have a butchers at this as anything Coastal grabs my attention.

Wonderfully descriptive as always, and for any water baby what you describe will take them sailing (pun very much intended!) back to those wonderful memories. Actually you would be pretty hard pressed to think of anyone who ever has a bad experience growing up on or near the beach.

Luckily I must have some Nomadic genes and thus don't really feel homesick when I go away, in fact I LOVE it finding new things, meeting new people. Or could be the fact I have a few different nationalities all swimming round inside me that I can't call one place home.

Ah who knows, hope your well though oh and could you post some snaps of your town, just so we can put some visuals on the wonderful description you made?

Posted: Aug 6, 2008

Author Comment:

Is it really already December?! I am sooo sorry! It's funny that you say you never get homesick. I must have those genes as well or maybe it depends on where you are. I do miss my hometown and have a need to go back there on occasion but someone asked me if I missed the USA after being here in London a couple months, and i'm like 'No way!'. Ha ha. Ooh, what are your nationalities? I met someone who is half palestinian and half italian the other day. Isn't that interesting? I'm just a mut of Western European and Native American origins (long ago family scandal, don't you know). Oh, pics of cocoa beach? That could be a tough one. How about a web-site? http://www.cityofcocoabeach.com/

seesawmae

this is great the way you described it! i enjoyed it a lot!
haven't talked to you in forever, how's it going?

Posted: Sep 20, 2008

Author Comment:

Sorry for taking so long to get back with you. life has been crazy busy with the move, settling in, and just enjoying being in London. Glad you liked it!

evelina

nice one. actually excellent.very bold writing.loved it. check me out too ......

Posted: Oct 20, 2008

Author Comment:

thanks! I will certainly try :)

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