Passing squalls of dog barks

ruffle the distant evening.

Further to the heads the low roar

of traffic on the highway to the sea.

Within our cabin of yellow light

we rock to the rhythm of eternity.

“A six foot swell tonight.

It will get stronger as we pass the heads.”

But we will be asleep by then.

Perhaps in nightmares the sea

shall torment our sleep

or sweep us towards the rock faced

ocean of dark magnificence.

We sit together in the globe lit room.

A radio plays softly in the background.

A blue sentinel buoy passes near

rocking in the swell and our wake.

We retire to bed, the waves of night

by our window.

The distant sounds of the city, the new

moon behind the clouds.

The tears of heaven falling on the roof

of our family home as my wife

of slender darkness looked out beyond the

ghost trees, her gaze caught just

above the northern horizon, where the fishing boats

return in the grey still seas of morning.

I loved her, but the curtain rain upon

the window and the silence brought sleep,

our entwining legs formed a cross,

the swell of gentle sails upon my back,

the turning of the night.

Around our bodies the pure air of the room

and the unheard ringing of eternity.

I am here, as ocean swells

and air rests

and there, as sky is suspended

Beyond the blanket of rain

I dived in the ocean, warm and still,

with fishing boats asleep on its surface

After an evening of distant lightning

a soft rain began to fall.

Red Sea –

before

and after

Two hundred and eighty dawns

Without seeing

Darkness at midday, night in the morning –

darkness that can be felt – the ninth plague –

a new decade begins – the third of the twenty first century –

fire on the hills – an orange glow in the sky –

clouds – with darkness on the one side and light on the other –

spiralling – terror – mountain ranges – a phoenix

consumed – what of the life within them? The Lord

said to Moses, When you return to Egypt, see that

you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have

given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart

so that he will not let my people go. Our leaders – is

this their destiny? Ancient rites renewed each summer –

loss and rebirth – but this is something unexplained –

the finger of nature – a miracle – a glory in a dark cloud.

window

to another

world

winter

early

sea

now ice

waterways

roads

sleighs and sleds

joining

with skaters

classes

linked

sky

heavy with

snow

the Mute

of Kampen –

a witness

Henrick Avercamp (1585–1634), the Dutch artist, recorded these events in a series of paintings.

https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/the-little-ice-age.html#slide_1

The sun appears each day –

wonderful – each night

the stars. Marvellous – this

Jeremiah 33:19-22