disquieting how you settle
scattered on the sloping shore
in that hospital bed
cobbles smooth as eggs
made more monstrous
drowning in tongues
with unseen compressors
of advancing foam
whooshing and pumping
each rounded rock born
to help you breathe
in darkness confined in fire
Splayed and pinned
the speckled strand reappears
your johnny bunched
as each wave retreats
above your knees
into the ocean’s great body
arms of bone and parchment
pulling sheets of sand
from under the covers
dimpled by a fleet of pebbles
twitching fingers reach for
small islands of white
and find at last the button
in the gray, green and black
that brings you morphine
rising over damp blankets
to release your entanglement
beneath a wealth of shells
and speed you onward
stones pearled in sunlight
