The Conch in the Next Life

The time you spoke to no one,
made a fist and years later
woke up—remember?

Like a swimmer lying down
exhausted, in the sun,
you still feel it, the waves still working.

Miles of seaweed shrug with the surf.
Fossil starfish burn on the rocks
like blaze marks. And again

your breath slips back to tell you:
do not give yourself up.

Copyright © 2005 David Petruzelli All rights reserved
from Everyone Coming Toward You
Tupelo Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission