Seaweed
        (after a painting by Georgia O'Keeffe)

Surely the soundings of the sea
must accompany it, follow it to shore
where seaweed learns to languish,

beached first in foam, and finally
on the black sand, entangled,
abstracted in folds, orifices, mysterious

weavings that open, close, whirl wildly
about in overlapping gyrations
whipped by waves,

sea's work on the flesh of the sea,
now pale yellows, ochres, grays,
browns, maroons, and myriad combinations

that intermix in its dance,
ever haunted by a black surround.
It takes a while in this chaos

to identify the bodies, loose, lost
amid the unmistakable nodules
that so clearly set seaweed apart.

Its silver highlights glitter
on this beach in anticipation
of every new step

in this, an advance dance
of the sea.

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Copyright © 2016 Laverne Frith All rights reserved
from Advanced Dancing
Authors Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission