We drop our hot dogs
  & dash to the roof
   of the beach house
    for a better look.
     An ice cream truck
      tipped on its side,
     Long Beach Blvd.
    strewn with Snow Cones
   chocolate chipwiches
  & strawberry shortcake
covered in candy-coated stones.
 We peer over the rail
   at the road below streaked
    with magenta & yellow –
     little milky tentacles
      collecting in sugary pools
     as seagulls circle overhead.
    The driver emerges
   bruised & stumbling
  red like cherry dip dripping
from his forehead.
  Paramedics roll him away
   as the neighborhood kids rush
    to snatch half-melted popsicles.
     I linger on the deck
    & catch a glimpse
   of beach cops in tank tops
  directing traffic as they lick
ice cream from their fingers.