By the Sea
I.
To watch a seagull fly overhead,
a girl child on the beach in red pajamas
tilts her head back and back,
impossibly back to anyone a second older.
Now she digs a hole
tossing the sand back between her legs
as if her hands were forepaws.
Now she sits on her haunches
in the hole and draws a circle
all about herself.
Now she is safe from everything.
//////II.
//////a seagull settles
………. on a translucent
………. restaurant umbrella
………. a little girl begins
………. to twirl it
………. the seagull spins
………. around three times
………. as if riding
………. a merry-go-round,
………. then flies away
III.
Low winter sun
………. on a black tarnish of sea
a crooked line of pelicans
………. serene and slow
riding the low air
………. above the breaking water
………. IV.
………. light shining on the sea’s
………. not interested in what’s beneath
………. it plays on the surface
………. rolls under a wave but out
………. before it breaks
………. it rides over the white foam
………. where the water caught
………. between the going out
………. and coming back is
………. almost still
by Nils Peterson
from All the Marvelous Stuff
Caesura Editions 2019
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.