Howling Northwestern winds drive

Mountains of foaming water

That reach up towards the low clouds

As chain lightning flickers across the night sky

In the midst of a late spring storm

When after midnight the Northwest winds die down

Surging Southeastern winds and tides

Usher chaos into morning light

But by noon chaos gives way to the order

Of the rhythm of Southeastern ground swells

By evening the slow rolling foothills

Eclipse the blazing sunset

That gives birth to a red sky at night

Soon retreating clouds reveal the night

A tapestry of constellations that cover

Weary seamen asleep in the womb

Of a gently rolling sea

In the small hours of morning

The last of the south winds die out

The surface of the sea becomes

A ghost of its former movement

The light of the rising sun creates

A rippling, reflective surface

That spans the hot, unexpected vacuum

Of a dead calm sea.

copyright 1999, M. W. Anderson