Eric Lawson is an author and actor living in Los Angeles. He has two poetry chapbooks under his belt: “Lady, Control Your Cats” and “Now With More Ewoks.” With Lyza Fontana, the comedy collections “Jackassery,” “Medusa Coils,” and “Snarky Snippets.” Recently, he was awarded Best Poem at the 2012 Los Angeles Neo-Noir Erotic Film Festival as well as a 2013 Editor’s Choice Award for his novel “The Road to Ruin.” His first produced short film as a screenwriter, “This is the Face,” is due to be released late summer (2013). While jovial, he has an unspoken distaste for invisible aardvarks and mornings without coffee.

CONCRETE SHORELINE
By Eric Lawson

Tidal offerings splash up against a sea of people perched upon a pier.
The people don’t back down and the ocean knows no limitations.
My city by the sea builds upwards as if taunting the waves to
gather up all their strength and knock them asunder and bury us.

I walk along the concrete shoreline, pondering the folly of man.
All our frivolous effort put into making the intangible solid.

Solidifying the industrial complex.
Solidifying man’s quest for fossil fuels.
Solidifying all that was designed to eventually erode.

Along the city streets, memories of a thousand beach-themed tunes
play on an endless loop inside the hearts of residents young and old.
The melodies soothe on hot days and raise smiles on frigid nights.
The city smells like the ocean and the ocean breathes salty smog.

I sink my hand under the surface and feel the current events pulling
me hither and thither in a timeless tug of war to which there is no end.

The ocean is on my mind as the blacktop jungle encroaches upon my
most fanciful of daydream aspirations, here, where trees give no shade.

One step from the shore, I am an animal in search of reprieve.
One block from the shore, I am a consumer in search of nostalgia.
One mile from the shore, I am a tenant in search of familiar echoes.

My city sleeps as the ocean whispers forgotten lullabies.
The electronic hum of humanity;
industry, economy, art, democracy,
such are the pillars we build upon.

Yet nothing is possible without water.