the sea

the sea

Sea photo by Big Cat

supple  f a ll    a   l  e n g t h   of it  taken  into the rise again   and
the skin thick as sleep the
skin draws like an ankle
strengthening into step    the
skin of the sea plastered with wind
passing on and on the darkness of
summer clouds.

sandstone    gathered     and laid    like canvas in that motion
a bottle rolling below deck    the
cliffs galing with leaves and    the
halyard winds caught up
and down draughting.

under    the skin    the light spun down    over weed  fish  stare
blind as omen until the
diviner’s hand releases
their sense a felt
turning together.
your gaze cupped in air
and glass the motion
working your body loose
of its w e i g h t.

along the  h o r i zon  the sky where the sun packs its midday
fall into a hue like
the rubbed blue-grey of shells still
b i t t e r    with dead sea-growth    the sky suggests
sea-cloud   the finished crests
a base line of ocean /

auckland
july 1989

Copyright ©1989 Peter Le Baige.  All Rights Reserved

From the opening adagio of String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 by
Ludwig van Beethoven, interpreted by the Takács Quartet  

The original typography of this piece is shown in the link here below:
the sea