Sea charm
The sea’s own children
Do not understand.
They know
But that the sea is strong
Like God’s hand.
They know
But that sea wind is sweet
Like God’s breath,
And that the sea holds
A wide, deep death.
From The Weary Blues (Alfred A. Knopf, 1926) by Langston Hughes. This poem is in the public domain.
At the seashore, wind
almost lifts our spindrift bodies,
sand scrapes our skin.
Let that sleek seal beat back the waves—
thunder amasses in cloud.
I do not believe in the failure of caring
for each other. How
can I when the cascading waves
gather us all in the rise?
From Last Days by Tamiko Beyer. Copyright © 2021 by Tamiko Beyer. Reprinted with the permission of the Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Alice James Books.