MICHAEL DENNIS MOONEY -- new writings

by tom nowak

wendy was 15 the first time
we met
i was an old 16
when i went away
she wrote me once
and i never returned the letter
when i came home
we ran into each other
by accident
i was in a bar near home

she walked in like
every step was choreographed
she walked past the table where i was sitting
with two other girls
we were smoking dope
wendy came over and said hello
i immediately recognized her
she sat near me and we talked
as the music played
her hair was long
straight and california blonde
her eyes were so soft yet piercing
at the same time

she didn't care for the two girls
i was with
i could tell
as the night wore on
she walked around the bar but
would always return to me
the girls i had there were getting
goofy from the weed
wendy came back and sat on my lap
facing me
she kissed me deeply and long
i still remember those kisses

she asked me to take her
away from the bar on a ride somewhere
i said ok and we walked out to my bike

i kicked it over and it roared to life
she hopped on behind me
she wrapped herself around me
we were as one on the bike
we went
down highway one
feeling the changes in temperature
as we rode along the ocean
i put my arm back and squeezed
wendy's leg
she closed her legs against my body
as we drove along

we went to the old battleship momunment
and looked out across the ocean
the full moon
shone off the crashing
waves
i pulled up into the park
we drove to the old japanese cemetery

the cemetery had been abandoned
and the land was now a golf course
but several large trees stood watch
a small wall was still intact
in places
and plenty of headstones stood
mutely as testimonies to those
who had passed
we sat and smoked a couple joints
we said few words
but each word had much meaning

she reached over and kissed me
we became like explorers
searching for new and exciting
treasures within and on each other
we made love over and over
wendy and i were one from that
night on