POEM
Song of the Sea to the Shore
Robert FanningUnraveling velvet, wave after wave, driven
by wind, unwinding by storm, by gravity thrown—
however, heaving to reach you, to find you, I've striven
undulant, erosive, blown—
or lying flat as glass for your falling clear
down: I can't swallow you. So why
have I felt I've reached you—as two reflected stars,
surfaced, lie near—as if the sky's
close element is one in me, where starfish
cleave to stones—if you're so far?
I've touched you, I know, but my rush
subsides; our meetings only leave desire's
fleeting trace. Every place I touch you
changes shape. Shore, lie down—
undo. I'll fill your thirsty bones with blue.
I'll flood your every cave and we'll be one.
Source: Poetry (August 2002).
This poem originally appeared in the August 2002 issue of Poetry.
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Robert Fanning is the author of American Prophet (2009), The Seed Thieves (2006) . . . MORE »
