Out of night through northern mist,
Streaked with rosy amethyst,
Seal-child came upon the tide,
Pinniped his earthly guide.
Seaweed raw and windlestrae
Succored nascent protégé;
Gulls screeched out their raucous cry—
Exemplify, diversify!
He sculpted ancient Sanhedrim,
Its vacant windows, pebbles skim;
Holding high the grains of sand,
Infinity through fisted hand,
Hour-glass, seeping, did ignore,
As down he danced upon the shore.
Waves did glisten in full moon's light,
Luring spellbound sybarite;
Seductive undulating spray
Beckoned him unto the fray.
He gathered pearly nautilus,
Gratuity to Hesperus;
Trembling diamonds, moonlit tryst,
All-embracing idealist—
Flotsam, jetsam on the wave;
Mirrored selkies in the cave.
Then seabreeze blew contrariwise,
Blinding sand, impassioned sighs;
Sea nymphs whispered in his ear,
But now Love's lyrics sang in jeer.
Raging tempest, vehement, wild,
His heart and soul unreconciled,
Across the thyme- and gorse-clad hill,
Howling, frenzied, volatile—
He crawled the cruel watercourse,
Seeking sapience from the Source;
Reverent bow to honored Gorsedd,
Supernal counsel given breath.
Deep down he dug with sweat and toil,
Dropped his seeds in salutary soil;
Fished in streams of consciousness,
Its tributaries, Shade's egress;
From briny fissure, full lee side,
The rose did with his heart collide.
The solemn knell of foghorn's wail
Shivered agéd skin, death-pale;
O'er shards and rocks, he lamely went
To sands of time, alas, full-spent!
The pool's reflection did beguile,
Made him stop to pause awhile,
As, bittersweet, the tears arose,
To leave his child, his damask rose—
When foam reached out upon the mist,
Nutbrown tresses he gently kissed;
She placed pink petals on his fur—
Her heart rent sore forevermore,
Watching ebb tide's effervescence
Enshroud the vaporous providence.
– Jennifer van Westrum