Sea coils us within hollow of wave, flowing up
past tide mark, past lip and cheek
into eyes of shell, smooth inward curve,
flickering tongue of wind, taste
of turquoise of deeper green
shimmering above turtle grass meadows
we have transitioned into tide
of otherness and cloud, rooted as we are at edge of Gulf,
lifting our limbs skyward, wave ridden knee and thigh,
ashen with egret, embering spoonbill
ebb and flow finds its way along teeth and tongue
a movement of elbow and wrist
so many small birds fly from our lacerations
singing in trees of fog and night,
thick limbed oaks, heavy magnolia, sweet bay
we sing names of the beloved
we sing of feathers, foliage and scales, of smoothness and horn
we sing of fin and wing
of sea, of moon, pale spark split from the greater spall
of sky, coal of what was hidden
awaiting incandescence,
climbing over the horizon
flocks of cumulous lift
over that arc, curvature
of all we thought known
sea coils within us lightless depths of finality,
a weight beyond all buoyancy, we dream of blade and sky
of lightning and burning beyond flame
we dream of hurricanes,
wind so unrelenting no leaf
remains, of conch washed
inland, past sea oats and buttonwood
we dream of blank stone
and empty hand, we dream by day
facing west, awaiting sunset
and opening of night sky
vast array of sparks flung down
upon the sea, a vigil for tide
and the slow turning, the breathless pause,
the emptying of all our green,
the heaviness of the empty shell,
we are the markers of inundation
bleached driftwood
on a broken shore
Peach Delphine is a queer poet from Tampa, Florida. Former cook, proud mama of a thoroughly spoiled dog, infatuated with the undeveloped Gulf coast. TWITTER
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