Surf [Free Verse]

so much power
 in a lazy rolling wave
  as it tips into a tube.

a column of
 weighty water
  piledrives:

pressing one down &
 holding one in a 
  back-shaped divot 
  on the sandy bottom,

a forced pour 
 onto face and chest,

flowing & rolling
 over both sides with 
   such easy skill
    as to negate a 
      frantic, thrashing
       attempt to roll free. 

Lapping Waves [Free Verse]

Gentle waves lap ashore,
 circling into each other,
  one riding over the other.

The lower sweep becomes
 another shore for the higher.

Which side wins out changes
 from one wave to the next.

Sea Watch [Free Verse]

She sat on the shore
 and watched the sea.

She watched the sea
 so intently, and for so long,
  that she could see the tides rise.

She could discern 
 that gradual shift
  from among the undulations
   & sea state changes.

But she was seeking a ship
 that would never return.

Crash & Sizzle [Free Verse]

waves roll over 
with a soft crashing
white noise
that splays out into a sizzle
as foamy water
expands flatly over hot sand

until the sizzle is washed out
by the next wet crash

and then more sizzle

and then more crash

sizzle & crash
crash & sizzle

The Great Roundness [Free Verse]

As in Hokusai’s Great Wave,
I watch waves roll over,
before a volcanic cone.

Though these waves are
small & close,
they are perfectly rounded.

And though the distant volcano
looms large over the shore waves,
it has perfect symmetry.

I feel the roundness
&
simultaneous devastating power
of both elements at once.

Rocky Shores [Free Verse]

a rocky monolith,
jutting from the sea,
is smashed by waves.

overgrown with moss
& gnarled trees.

battered brutally
& unrelentingly,

and yet unchanged 
& unmoved.

 birds confidently
settle upon the rocks
&
take off again,
leisurely.