The Eastern Sea

The Eastern Sea

Like you, I have sought
the fate of the wave,
the burnt mast, the water birds
gliding near as a prayer. And so
as the eastern sea passes
its ring of opal light to the sky,
I promise I will pass the ring
of the sea to my daughter.

Always, the mermaid speaks of love.
The beggar cries that his sandals
were stolen by Jesus. My daughter
asks me to hold those fragile rings,
to hold the sea that breaks with gravity’s secret
and washes over our cold bare feet
until she has a song to sing to it.

— William O’Daly