Anchor

My father had a rented boat
that he was taking out that summer.
I was six or seven.
 
He was an expert captain
tacking back and forth
as the sails billowed over my head.
He steered past buoys with precision
And although we were going nowhere in particular
he went with a quiet intensity.
 
I leaned my hand over the side
and tried to catch the water
as it passed through my fingers
but the water went to quickly
and it as all I could do to keep my hand from being swept along.
 
and my father,
looking into the salty air
seemed more focused and peacefull
than I had ever seen him
 
"I used to have a boat like this,"
he sighed.
"Why don't you still have a boat, Dad?"
I asked. "You should get a boat. Boats are fun."
"Boats are expensive," My father said,
in his matter-of-fact voice.
"How come you had one before, then?"
I challenged.
"Well, when you're young, and single,
you don't have children or a wife to spend money on
so you have a lot of extra money
to do things you like."
 
I looked at his face
squinting into the sun
and leapt over the edge
I sunk to the bottom slowly
i never had to deal with the painful
problems of puberty and high school
and my father
taking my college fund from the bank
got him self a pretty nice 30-footer.
although I think it would have been nice
if he had named the damn thing after me.