Over the sea

Over the sea I sat gazing
Across the thin straight to an ancient enemy
My balcony like a prison, looking through iron bars
My hammock like a sling for an injured body
Selective vision blocks out the sores of ugly concrete apartment buildings
That leads up to the edge of beach and shore

From this distance the water is clean azul
White surf dancing, frolicking like pubescent girls
But I know that beach and water from morning intimacy
It’s as dirty as any communal toilet floor
Stray beach dogs have taken over in gangs
Making a mess of the human’s heavy littering of anything plastic

I don’t fear the undertow as much as the impurities
Finding passage to every orifice and crevice
Or the packs of starving canines, wild and foaming desperate

I love the saltwater enough to show restraint
And admire from the shore and commune with something more

Beyond the sea is sky and mountain
And the intermediaries of my cloud brethren
We link in kindred embrace
So I don’t miss anything subtle