I am drawn nightly to the frothy grain-scattered seashore
to eye the tide as it glides with the wind to meet my ankles.
The stars in the water's surface shimmer and light my face;
an archer of oblivion, the lonely lion, and mama's ladles.
I come home to the briny ocean-sprayed piers after twilight
to swim from stormy streets into the hush of broken eternity.
The fog spills over ship decks in the distance- tears over lashes;
a faceless captain enshrouded by a grey cloud of uncertainty.
I stalk the bayside cliffs overlooking the waves of the gulf
to feel the salt on my skin- I know all the lighthouses by name.
The beacon of her breast illuminates the shape of my shadow;
an absent memory threatens to rise up- set the fathoms aflame.
I am drawn nightly to a dream-lingering seashore
to ache at the fingertips of hands not reaching for me.