1
now to see
North Atlantic
in my sphere
landlocked
till twenty-eight
that week, camping tide-to-tide
beside North Pacific
and you speak of turning to Christ?
2
who found the eagle in the desert canyon
and high mountains
before the Upper Mississippi
or Great Falls of the Potomac?
still, moose fail to inspire me
as elk did
3
whales, then
rather than moose
in contrast to elk of the Yakima Valley
this mirror of historic economy
besides, moose and whales do not leave tracks
everywhere we trek here,
unlike the elk out west
to say nothing of ticks
4
water, defining land
defining water
and the overlap
I want to know what the ocean voices
in its repetition
addressing the absent moon
or distance, even in the erasure
bank of fog
curtain of resounding
fog horn or bell
or vast silence
before
the hundred thousand variations of nor’easter
just off this point
no need to circle the planet
we have our fill of floundering
agents of change
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of seacoast poems, click here.
Jnana's Red Barn 