because you deserve to feel
        the sun on your skin
        hot sand between your toes
        to slough off the workday drudge
        and free your smile
because it will be fun
because ice-cream melts fast
        and tastes good
because it’s your laugh that matters
because no-one ever died thinking
        the best thing they did
        was spend three years on a diet
        so they could wear a bikini
        for half an hour on the one decent day
        we have in a british summer
        then spend that thirty minutes
        holding their stomach in
        afraid to breathe
        
        Really. Do the maths.

because you’re beautiful. Right now.
because when did you last build a sandcastle?
because you will return home
        sun-kissed and contented
because you can be certain that
        as soon as a cheap hustler
        in a bad suit
        tries to sell you something
        then you don’t need it
because there are small fish
        scurrying crabs and anemones
        in the rock pools
        and they don’t give a toss
        about your curves
        your weight
        your BMI
because I am a lot like an anemone
        most men are
because at night you can go
        skinny-dipping
        and it will feel like liberation
because it’s not the office
because life is too short to be miserable
because you can gaze out
        to where the sea meets the sky
        off into the infinite blue
        and out there
        light years away
        on a planet we haven’t even found yet
        a creature is dipping all seventeen
        of its three-foot toes in the water
        and gazing back at you
because well it might be, right?
because don’t ever let someone tell you
        what you can and cannot do
because your dreams are worth more than gold
        and you are your dreams and more
because the best moments in your life
        can be stitched with seaweed, shells
        the sound of surf
        the memory of laughter
        sunlight shimmering on water
because I may not know much
        but I’m sure of this
because you’re beautiful right now
        and you’re ready
        and you want to

        go.

© Steve Pottinger