To Repair the Sea by Mara Lemanis

To Repair the Sea by Mara Lemanis

 

To Repair the Sea 

 

When the roads ran

with the water,

riding wild

breaking

with the waves

I sat with you

and watched

the clear reflection

in your eyes

that saw the true

the wild, uncivil light

that cut through

furrowed dark

before the oil

the lead, the plastic

dammed the wild

inside the light,

and you and I

sat on an island

that had no roads

and grazed on walnuts,

beans and berries

and colors wild

like lava flows

and sang the song

that has no words

but rises with the water

from inside our bark

and spills out with our song;

we sang and waited

for the light

to drive the wild

shine through the oil,

slice the lead

break up

the continental shelf

choked full

with plastic bones

and spring us free

into the wild

to join our waters

running

to repair the sea 

                                                                                    

                                                                                    Mara Lemanis 

Images: 1) Dangerous Atlantic Road, 2) Atlantic Road, Havsvegen, Norway