The wind and the waves,
Salt spray and seagull song,
Glimpses of caves,
Outcrops and whirlpools,
Shadowy creatures;
Known vaguely by shape,
Not by their features.
Pale skies then darken,
As if inked by a brush,
A screaming wind gathers
As Valkyries rush
Hither and thither,
With incandescence of rage,
Tearing waves from the ocean
Like words from a page,
Then hurling them downward
To darken the darkness yet more,
The world stripped of distance,
A sea with no shore.
A teacup, an ocean,
A lantern, the sun,
A mirror, the full moon,
A raindrop, the storm.
(photograph and poem 2017)