by Gary Stieglitz
There is no resisting the seas when they rise
Relentless dispassionate and cold.
No thought for priests or kings who went about this world
Ruling
Responsible
Invoking myth to temper the tempest.
Erecting monuments
Stone gaze across the water below the heavens
Where sun and moon negotiate the movements
Of our oceans massive waves.
The inching quality of glacial remains.
And we
We proud and paltry
We build walls.
Higher and higher
Deeper and wider
Billions of bodies shoulder the water
“Give us some space
to feed and find mates
pass on our genes
and what we have learned
of what to expect
from the clockwork of tides”
The glorious order ordained by the heavens.
The push and pull of gravity
Guiding
Giving us time to
Plant
To ponder
To wonder
At the deepest cracks on her face.
The wizened visage
Of a woman who has seen
Too many wars
Too many walls
Too many men who believe
The moon is only as big as it seems
Or
The sun has a soft spot for you and for me
Or
That by building walls
As high as we can
It is we who decide the dominion of man.
