Ode to the Sea Palm

Postelsia and me
have a thing for the sea
though one of us holds it more dearly

It can sway to and fro
and never lets go
we dance, but we do it discretely

 Images by Chuck Bancroft

Bird Island Paradise

A pilgrimage to a place to
face the wide and endless sea
the world at my back while
watching the cool translucent
waters below sparkle heavenly
rising pelicans glide in formation
soaring on the wind
with little effort
I take a step as night herons
barely visible on unapproachable cliffs
stand stone still and wait
while I catch my breath
once more
pain melts into the horizon
unfurling then fading as fog
blankets and blurs
the mind
remembers what it had lost
and found again 
in this sanctuary

Narrow Binding

Burned so as not to offend

views that differed

and could not bend

to hear a voice

to spark

a choice.

Tribute to Ray Bradbury

Seal Song

I asked the mottled harbor seal to take a walk with me

there are so many things out here, I’d love for you to see

cities gleaming in the sun, fine friends for company,

some lovely spots where you and I could stop to pour some tea

and take some time to talk about our common ancestry.

Resting on a sunlit rock, 

he merely yawned at me

raised his head and seemed to talk, 

Why not come and follow me?

Then he simply smiled and winked, and slipped into the sea.

Come swim with me, far from your shore

his forlorn eyes implored.

We’ll chase the fish and toss and flip

there’s castles to explore.

For if you wait, my siren song will fade and never more

Will you and I, meet eye to eye, upon the ocean shore.

Soon you’ll find that man is blind, and this will be no more.

I stood upon the silent shore

as he swam out to sea.

I’ll never go, and never know,

though he keeps calling me.

--- Fred Brown, BSP

© 2012

The Harbor Seal

I watch with a most painful expression

as they do their very best impression
of pulling on pants too small and so tight
as they wiggle up with all their might
to sun themselves in broad daylight.

They lie there, oh so very still
and most folks think they never will
get off the rocks and swim away
they just seem to stay all day.

But then, like falling off a log
with soulful eyes, just like my dog
they slip back in their comfort zone
wiggle off the craggy stone
and slide back in the deep blue sea.
I wish I could be that free.