24 hour adventure
	On a night train up north
		I let the other passengers pick my destination
			and get off at manchester

It's 9 pm when I start walking
	down school st and out of town
		the sky's still darkening
			and the night is warm

10 pm finds me walking down a state road
	the darkness punctuated by occasional headlights
		I'm walking west
			and the stars are out

I'm still walking at 11
	the frogs are chorussing in the swamps
		and fireflies light up the meadows
			there aren't many cars now

Midnight and 10 miles and I'm in essex
	I look for a place to sleep
		there's nothing but houses and backyards
			and I can't see a damn thing

I hop a fence and drop into the marsh
	The stars are out in force now
		but I can't even see my feet
			I start walking towards the ocean

There's paths cut in the marsh for water
	I can't see them until I'm right over them
		they drop deep into a muddy bottom below
			I take running jumps to clear the gaps

The ground is spongy underfoot
	my feet are muddy and covered with grass
		the plants are waist high	
			and I can't see where I'm going

I'm a couple miles out in the marsh
	hoping the tide stays out
		I see silhouettes in the darkness
			clumps of trees rising out of the grass

The night's perfectly clear
	I see the milky way overhead
		I make up my own constellations in the stars
			and then sit and make myself a sandwich

It's late now
	so I walk towards a clump of trees
		I unroll my bag a few feet above what I hope is the high tide mark
			and lay me down

I go to sleep underneath the mosquitos
	lots of animals bite
		why do mosquitos have to annoy you first?
			I hate it when they buzz in my ears

I tie a shirt around my ears to keep the bugs out
	and let myself drift off
		I wake up a few hours later
			and I can see everything around me

A 3/4 moon is hanging low in the sky
	so bright I can barely look at it
		I stand up to look around
			I've never cast a moonshadow before

I walk around barefoot
	and my toes touch water
		the tide's in now
			and I'm surrounded by gleaming white pools

I worry about my bag getting wet 
	so I pitch my hammock in some trees
		I climb in with my bag
			a hammock is a wonderful thing

I wake up at sunrise
	and the water's reflecting orange now
		I'm pretty well marooned
			so I go back to sleep

When I wake again
	the tide's out
		so I strike camp
			and hop, skip, and jump my way out

There's 20 miles between essex and rockport
	so I start walking along the coast
		through the marshes and beaches
			I'm hopping my way north

I walk with scratched legs and bitten feet
	the sun's up, but it's still cool
		I meet a nice woman 
			who drives me through the boring inland bit

She drops me off on a beach north of gloucester
	and it's low tide again
		I walk across a sand bar
			to a rock island

I clamber up and climb down a cliff on the other side
	there's no one around, so I strip off my clothes and swim
		the water's so cold I yell
			but the sun's hot on my face

There's a 30 foot cliff above me
	so I get out and climb up barefoot
		nothing but crashing waves below me
			and gulls circling above

I put on shoes and pick my way north
	over miles of rocky beaches
		I climb another cliff
			and fall asleep on top

more beaches and roads
	and six miles later I'm in a soda shop in rockport
		I go line by line through their menu
			and order every cold drink they have

Rockport's all varicose tourists and bikini girls
	a fake town
		I walk out on the seawall
			and stare for hours at the harbor

Forty minutes later I'm on a train
	blurring past the marshes and boats
		my notebooks in hand, my adventure's over
			I'll be home soon