Salt Water Taffy

The woman who sits

third desk on the right

comes back from

her week at the shore.

She places a box of

salt water taffy

on the printout table

by the double doors.

Pink, green, yellow -

pastel blocks of summer

are tenderly unwrapped

and placed in wistful mouths.

The flow of names

washes over the office:

Avalon, Ocean City,

Wildwood, Long Beach Island.

Phones trill and blink,

but when workers pick up

they hear only

the message of gulls.