A Day at the Beach – Worth the Wait!

I am blessed in many ways, one of which is the incredible richness and diversity of my network of friends and acquaintances. Last week, my friend, Matthew Beach, and I shared a Keystone Kops moment. We had agreed to meet for coffee at “The Au Bon Pain in Kendall Square.” Neither Matthew nor I was aware that there are two Au Bon Pain locations within a block of each other in Kendall Square, so naturally we each had in mind a different location. After waiting for about 15 minutes for Matthew to appear, I called his wife, who assured me that he had left home in plenty of time to make our arranged rendez-vous. So, I asked one of the employees if there were another location in the Kendall Square area. “Oh, yes. There is one across the street in the Food Court at the Marriott.” So, I crossed the street in hopes of finding Matthew at the other location. I later learned that he had done precisely the same thing, and we must have crossed the street at the same time – missing each other like “two ships passing in the night.”

I eventually had to give up waiting in order to make it to my next appointment. I learned later that day of Matthew’s side of the misadventure, and we agreed to reschedule our meeting for this week.

When Matthew appeared at the right place at the right time this Tuesday, he honored me by presenting me with a draft copy of a poem he had written about our experience of having to postpone by a few days out meeting. He had found a creative way to build a lemonade stand out of the lemons of our earlier missed appointment. With Matthew’s permission, I share with readers of The White Rhino Report the poem he gave me as a gift.

Worth the trip

Trip Two would do

what One did not.

Two people at 10 a.m.

in the very same spot.

A mere three hours there

by motorcar and trains

for me. Anticipation, checked fair,

with gently held reins,

sniffed for scent of prayer’s goal.

A seat at a table where someone

will be waiting to break bread

with a friend long absent.

What a present.

Worth the trip.

By Matthew J. Beach

From poetry book manuscript draft: Iguana Iguana

By Matthew J. Beach / All Rights Reserved / 1 May 2007

35 Kinglet Drive, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545-4316 U.S.A

Email: mjpjbeach@yahoo.com

Thank you, my poet friend!

Al