SIRENS - Poem

SIRENS
 
(Copyright 2020, by Dave Kiffer)
 
It is always the same
with coastal peoples,
The inability
To stay on the shore.
 
The call from the sea
That must be answered,
First the toe dipping
Then the body floating outward.
 
The salt rings in our ears,
A mitochondrial imperative
That we must obey,
That we must obey.
 
The temptation resolute,
Those fingers beckoning,
Those waves raising
The hairs of our necks.
 
Day after fogged day
We slip down-beach
Descending as always
Into relentless gravity.
 
Then the weight lifts,
No longer land rooted,
And we are free,
And we are free.

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