(On the road circling Hanalei Bay, Kauai)

Saw a guy on the side
of the road, waxing his
stick, right out in public.

They do that here.
“Sexwax,” Dick said,
as we drove by,

sounding like the
famous surfer who
bears the same name,

though Dick has never
in his five-and-a-half
decades of traveling

to these islands set
foot on a board. Later
that day we saw some

in a shop: Mr. Zog’s
Original Sexwax,
a surfer’s favorite,

a warm water wax
with its ear-catching
name. And we thought

of that surfer on the side
of the road, likely antsy
to hit soft sand leading

to the water, patiently
cross-hatching and circling
wax atop his stick where

his feet will be, with luck,
helping his toes grip when
he drops in on his first

gnarly wave of the day
and rides it as far as it goes
with a heart-racing grin.

Then he’ll kick out,
smoothly turning back
over the top of the wave,

take a seat on his
freshly waxed board
to relish his run

before, belly down,
paddling back out
beyond the break,

ready to do it again.