What if the ocean doesn't tell him where it came from?
He lives on the remains of a sea shallow and toothy
Large enough to float giants and catch their bones
In a basin down below the edge of the horizon
Where only the pinnacles of the oil towers show.
He'll know the rumors of where his parents were
As he slowly came to be, the years when they
Were small, when they lived along this coast
Where their dads worked among the pipes
Separating chemicals from the sea.
Nights roll up behind him, forgotten.
What if the ocean never tells him
How deep the past can sink, how the mud can grow
Into both blood and stone?
Sharing this week with The Sunday Muse and Poets United for their Sunday poetry. I'm grateful for being able to spend time in a community of poets, particularly in those times when my own writing feels as if it might congesting into a solid lump of silence. I'm hoping the cooler weather sets in rather sooner this year (I've been watching British gardening shows with naked and blatant envy at the delicate snowfalls in--what, April? May?) so that I can take my notebooks back outside, among the ants and beetles and mushrooms and...well, the spiders can stay over there. Really. Like, waaay over there.
Hope your writing and reading week is going well!
-- Chrissa
The ocean is large enough to "float giants and catch their bones." I love the intermingling of the ancient and the modern. It is both the story of an ocean and a boy and how they both came to be. The ocean, like a womb, birthing the past.
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem. I like the blending of the old and new. The last three lines are amazing and tell a tale in themselves. I agree about the spiders!
ReplyDeleteThis is a deep and powerful poem Chrissa. Sometimes the ocean does not tell. The last lines are magnificent! I see you hate spiders as much as I do. :-))
ReplyDeleteFabulous read. :)
ReplyDeleteSometimes, the ocean is silent and sometimes it speaks volumes and sometimes we need to use our imagination to figure out pieces of the story. The ending excellently wraps up the poem and the mood.
ReplyDeleteSuch a powerful poem. A real exploration of the image
ReplyDeleteMay all the tales he hears be cool and inspiring. With no spiders. Not even one.
ReplyDeleteWow, your poetry seems mighty fine to me! I loved this poem!
ReplyDeleteooh how interesting. the ocean is a great source of inspiration. great work!
ReplyDeleteokay, first of all, that picture is perfection. And then a truly beautiful and uniquely told story hailing our origins in the land and sea and all the tiny giants who toiled away before us, creating us. Really wonderful to read.
ReplyDeleteAmazing questions to savour.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my sumie Sunday
Much❤🕊❤love
This is rich with imagery.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is wonderful...in any season. I like your creativity.
ReplyDeleteThe closing line and the emotions which it evokes is truly phenomenal! Love this.💖
ReplyDeleteI don't think that script will ever be quite readable, but no less fascinating for that. Or so I read.
ReplyDeleteThis has an almost mythic quality. It's beautiful, in its details and its mystery.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Rosemary about the mythic quality. Also, I loved the line,
ReplyDelete"Nights roll up behind him, forgotten."
A lot of layers to this contemplative, exquisitely detailed piece. A pleasure to read.
ReplyDeletei think your writing is still as good as ever. this is one lovely, lovely poem. so deep, and awash with mystery. i can almost feel the sea spray on my face. :)
ReplyDeleteMystery waiting to meet magic. What if?
ReplyDeleteSometimes we are our own most meanest critic as we get frustrated by not quite achieving what we attempted. Your readers however may still be impressed by what you have done so relax and hopefully accept suggestions if ever given (but you don't have to use them!)
ReplyDeleteWow, this is an amazing piece. If you are struggling to write, may my own writing struggle create something as beautifully written as this. I live in an oil city and a gulf coast vulnerable to men's error. This poem really resonates with me.
ReplyDelete"Large enough to float giants and catch their bones" a beautiful description!
ReplyDeleteI hope the child has lots of time left to hear the magic in a seashell, because the hard truths hinted at in this piece will not be so gentle.
ReplyDelete