The Sea, the Sea

Insistent swells before a brusk
wild lean wind flatten
to froth in confusion,
withdrawing, returning,
scrolling the rocky cusp;
trickster waves scramble
through shattering sighs
glazing the shallows;
reflections glint across tidepools
in the monochrome dusk.

Shrugging off grief, hope, help,
enough water to extinguish
any fire haunts the shore;
charred timbers frame collapse;
dreary remains pelt
the faint spill of stars
with toxic sparks of ash.
A single living stipe floats in,
greening the beach—
a Gordian-knot of kelp.