Sunset on Agios Pavlos, Crete

I sit counting ripples on the ocean,
and watch the sun go down upon the bay
as the dog from the hotel
follows me up the mountain path.

For want of a pen, I root in my bag,
and jot down some opening lines
in black eye pencil, so as not to
lose the memory of this moment;

With this action, I reflect on contradictions,
the eye pencil, a symbol of the ego
and its vanity against this backdrop
of purity and innocence.

The sun looks like a large white host
like the one I saw in the monstrance
in St. James's church
in Medjugorje,

beaming out rays of love and beneficence,
giving its all for love
and asking for nothing in return.

Drowning

Drowning

Oh, it's easy to be romantic about the sea,
Not so easy if you're drowning and struggling
In its snarling clutches
And raging waters.
“Save me, oh save me
Help, oh Help me,”
The cry of many a drowning person,
Falling on the deaf ears of the wind,
Falling into the abyss of gigantic waves,
Falling out into the days and nights
Of eternal silence,
Falling back to the beginning

Like grapes crushed to pulp,
So sweet the taste of the wine.

This poem was inspired by reading Paul Durcan’s “Give Him Bondi”. I had written a poem called ocean which gives an idealized romantic view of the sea. His poem got me thinking about the horror of drowning while one is going through this process and feeling so helpless and powerless. However once the drowning takes place and one returns to pure spirit, the experience must be so blissful.

Ocean

I stand by the shore
Looking out at your blue-green expanse
I see jeweled specks of sunlight
Shimmering on your calm surface
Dancing and playing a game of peek a boo

I listen to your waves
Gliding backwards and forwards
And watch your foam gather momentum
at the edge
Sucking in and spewing out
Sand and pebbles flung about

As I stand there, you pull me
Into your majesty and mystery,
You take me down to your depths
To your bed, where you sing
Your timeless tunes

For time, that plague of humans
Is Unheard of in your eternal motion.
It is here I find a trace of memory,
Of being one with you and part of you,
Oh, timeless, joyous ocean.