1
I admire a lighthouse more than a ship
without masts, as a qualifier
anchored in some upstanding foundation
I, who have roved the continent
and no further
gaze from the shore
or out, from the water,
to peer at each obelisk
instructing the coastline
yet masts, in open sail
could make this a wash
or a wish-list
2
I look in vain for a painting or photograph
of ocean only
always some shoreline
or ships – naval battle
conflict or simply
what attempts to bridle wild space
the lighthouse, as a genre, especially
countering the fabled variations of blue
at last, O’Keeffe’s large canvas of clouds and sky
comes closest
even more than her cross by the sea
3
costly as a ship
to construct and to run
this marker
of commerce, progression, and change
made obsolete, still
a warning as welcome
faithfully alludes to danger
in homecoming
a way around obstacle
a passage through the mouth
to safe landing
as much as the other abode
sailors justly dread
4
in daylight, a solitary standing figure
a sentinel
upright numeral one
a spire, a prayer
shrine, stupa
gravestone
defiantly erect penis
by night, its repetition
insisting
“Here! I’m here!”
as much as “Beware!”
in a tally of shipwreck
once with its whale oil and great lenses
arrayed on a crystalline comb
investment in life
such magnification
casting its spark
so far
this rock, uttering its expletive
to death
pinprick of light
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodso
To see the full set of seacoast poems, click here.
Jnana's Red Barn 