Afternoon lagoon

A pair of canoes, their oars
like big whiskers, feeling
their way forward.

Children throw sand
and laughter
at each other, their bodies
into the water.

You hurl your line
again and again –
watch the scarlet cork among the buoys,
and boats, the breath
of the seal, and the sea-grass.

Again I ask God, as the tide slides in –
these liquid blues of feeling,
please teach me how
to abide, to endure the love
of beauty: so much more painful
than loss?

White wings of far-off gulls
wink
in the light, and the ocean beyond
washes the hour
that does not pass.

– Silke Heiss, 7th June 2020