Rose-colored

Among the children picking up shells,
she combed the sand for bits of sea glass.

Carefully rifling through colors
from Mosel green to yellow amber,
she considered each earnestly,
hoping to discover the perfect tint
in which to view the world.

Seascape

An old woman who had never seen the sea
cherished a spotted shell.

At night, when the world was shadowed and quiet,
she would cradle it against her ear
and sway to the whispering surf.

Her mind floated, aloft
on warm waters
the color of topaz.

A Gray Sea

stars above
a still, gray sea
who combs her faded hair
and old lovers
from her thoughts

A season by the sea

desolate shores slip
sand beneath toes
as the fisherman’s wife
digs for clams

Boundaries

tattered sails leave me
shipwrecked
in a sea I once roamed

Seaworthy

A small tugboat felt itself
lesser than the great ships
that crossed the channel.

It never left the shore
although, like all others,
it was created seaworthy.

Buoys

sycophantic yes-men
bob their heads
in nervous
oceanic time

Artwork in Water

ribbons like ink
pink and deadly
jellyfish

Boat Rides

cars through
pools of rainwater
recall to mind, tides
against a dinghy

Irrefutable Evidence

sheer cliffs eroded
by a seemingly calm sea
stand testament
to its caprice