Now I remember

that I ate all that chocolate
that Carol gave me in the car
that the day was hot
that the Hershey bar was no longer a bar
that most of it was a messy wrapper
that I swam in the Pacific
that day it rained, after Mass
that Carol!! She had already had her swim
that didn't matter, we went anyway. We noticed
that my fingers didn't turn white, the first time
that it happened (or didn't happen) and I notice
that my sandles are not where I left them
that it's mornng already -- breakfast in S.Carolina
that N. Carolina and Virginia are not down anymore
that they're up --and this is not Hawaii but
that experience is still with me, I think
that we counted 102 stone steps down, or up,
that doesn't matter. We climbed both ways
that I do remember
that there was at the bottom water
that bubbled furiously over rocks
that tempted me, but I could not go there
that day (or any day, they told me)
that was because they didn't want to lose
that old aunt, those memories
that she had of family popping up