Member Poem

Leatherback

The huge sea turtle merges with the shore,

motionless, with bipeds all around

gaping in wonder, while the breakers roar

beside this turtle merging with the shore.

Composed of sand and seashell to the core,

this reptile is forever ocean-bound,

a great sea turtle merging with the shore,

ocean-less, with bipeds all around.

Nobody knows who built it grain by grain

or just how long it’s stood there on the brink.

The breathing ones have gone. We pray the rain

will not unbuild this reptile grain by grain

before the tide’s in. One link in the chain

of life has snapped. The world’s gone out of sync.

Nobody knows who built it. Grain by grain,

dissolving — still, it stands there on the brink.

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(Originally appeared in The Flea)