qarrtsiluni

Run here stumbling
on inconstancies The surf
slapping on rock
drags salted waste back and forth
Seaweed straw
mixed with ochre soap foam
forces the stagger of your trailmark
ball of the foot deeper than heel.

The sea labors to eat away
the sandbar which separates
successions of moon-driven breakers
from a still cove
where waterbirds dip beaks, trap
fingerlings worms infant crabs.
The hinged baton legs of a solitary crane
lift and plunge in abstract semaphore:
hold breath keep distance

Curve to the sunrisen line of mauve
half water half sky
A figure in white seamless garment
sways on the horizon
torso at one with knees bent in slow
revolving half-turns
shaven head’s gaze toward sea as sleeves
fill with wind’s exhale:

Man-egret
absorbed by motion, limbs
friction carving signet on sands
suspended in air
by the wind

Step forward
arms lifted
your toes like prongs
around oval stones

ankles slender
in deepening
circles of water

by Charlotte Mandel

Download the MP3

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::