Tryst Poetry by Richard C. Williams

Guest Editor Richard C. Williams
 
________________________

Out from sea, I shuffle
for the first time on dry land
since the flutter of angels.

In fetal contortion, I knelt
in a dingy swag of ocean,
wished on threads of anemone

dreamt of my emergence,
of how the sun might someday
gild these cold wet bones.

In my listless sleep, not sun
nor kelp, nor sad human song
could arouse me in my still

yet the frothy lip of sea
creeps beneath me, unsure
if it will spit or suck

and the how’s of my retrieval
are but a secret buried in
the stretch of white dunes

swelling within the contour
of my shadow, which unveils nothing
but this mask of dismay.


© 2002 Richard C. Williams

© 2002 Misha Gordin


Richard C. Williams, editor of Pierian Springs, was invited to submit to Tryst.  His poem, "Shadow" was written in response to Misha Gordin's image, "Liquid Shadow."

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