Somehow reminds me of Les Murray “On Home Beaches” with a word or two from a poet from an altogether different clime, John Betjeman!
Last Friday my wonderful wife Jenny helped me celebrate my birthday in Tulsa with an approximation of beachy Californian living by summoning a small group of friends to our neighborhood tiki bar, the Saturn Room. Squinting (as I did in the photo above), I almost felt I was back at the Tiki-Ti on Sunset Boulevard. It was the best of sloshy bashes; even Oklahoma’s sky pitched in with a cocktail-colored rainbow.
Actually, we were marking two special occasions, my birthday and the cover reveal of Jenny’s utterly original new novel, The Extinction of Irena Ray. Jenny is a forest person, and the painting by Inka Essenhigh ton the front ofThe Extinction really captures that aspect of her personality.
As for me, I’m all about the sea, so indulge me as I sink into another lighthearted Angeleno poem by Vernon Duke.
Santa Monica Beach
How nice to bask…
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