lessons of tide-in and tide-out

 

Love whispered to the tide-out

And sang across the wet, reflecting sand.

We were holding hands and murmuring not words

But sounds of supplication, lyric graces.

I have learnt all this from the ocean

In lessons of tide-in and tide-out

As I think myself back to first childhood

And beyond that to floating in kind water

And love that made me and launched me

Into the salt seas of now.

A Way of Looking (Poems)

ANSWERS

I kept my answers small and kept them near;

Big questions bruised my mind but still I let

Small answers be a bulwark to my fear.

The huge abstractions I kept from the light;

Small things I handled and caressed and loved.

I let the stars assume the whole of night.

But the big answers clamored to be moved

Into my life. Their great audacity

Shouted to be acknowledged and believed.

Even when all small answers build up to

Protection of my spirit, still I hear

Big answers striving for their overthrow

And all the great conclusions coming near.