Sea Griever (Felicia Lamport; minor editing* R.Greenhaus) I must go down to the shores again, Before the wine-dark sea Becomes a bloody barricade Of medical debris. But all I find as the waves break On the sandy beach's fringe Is a crack tube, some stained gauze And a hospital syringe. I must go down to the shores again, Despite the breakers laced With suppurating sprays of sludge, Contaminants and waste, Replacing tidal rhythms Once beloved by the bards With clicks from hypodermics And their plastic needle-guards. I must go down to the shores again, If only to lament The prevalence of salty spume Imbued with offal scent And pray that we can find a way To clear the mass of muck in it Before Poseiden's trident ends up Permanently stuck in it. * I took the liberty of replacing Ms. Lamport's "seas" with "shores" as the seventh word in each verse. Too many "seas" in the first two lines. RG Printed in N.Y. Times 8/10/88 see also Sea Fever, Sea Chill RG
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!