coquina

samuddo / ocean2015

copyright 2015 John Martoneisbn 978-1-329-21770-6johnmartone@gmail.com

coquina

The Buddha who sat at the foot of the Bodhi and defeated the army of Mara stands on my head. The Venerable Moggallana is on my left shoulder and the Venerable Sariputa is on my right shoul-der. The Dhamma dwells in my hearts core. The Bodhisatta who was born a peacock and who shines as the sole Benefactor of the world, shields my feet. (from the Jinapanjara)

6the barrier island come closer this year

7a tunnel thru strangler figs you come to an opendrawbridge

8white ibisesthe road curvesto his house

9mangrove hammockswhere the species sleep unseen

10

youre an odd thing on this winter beach

11

a gull steers close& you seethe resemblance

12

sea grapes& a bench facing outwardmother resting

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o sea lavender stop this erosion

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pelicansno lifeguards

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pelican soars wings spread the greatest blessing a mind that doesnt flutter

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bilge full of stars

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naked sky sea-kayaks shuttle thru waves

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paddle out & capsize

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there you were

now soli

tary wave

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ten thousand turtlesunder sand underfoot

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every prayerin reverse just listen

22

the great waveswithdraw beforesanderling legs

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sanderling heartbeats& yours in time to the sea

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dune fence driftwood

25

seawind makes uschange this locksettwice yearly

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nature-guideson shelf room closed-off

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ancient oaron a wall

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green anole on bare wall you make me stand straight

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green anole my handscant

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thought it a fine dustto dust away orchid seeds

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even your roots are photosynthetic

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dancers hands orchid leaves curl streaming water

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white orchid aeons before human pelvis

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all your life orchid saysmehr Licht!

35

human eyelidsorchids

36

head bowed outer ears an orchid

37

potting orchidsroots & fingers about the same

38

had lips but didnt speak

when you werean orchid

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lemon treeslight as you are lemons

40

anastasia formation

Return to life. Thats inconceivable. Those num-berless ones left shells behind to the end of this holocene, and now the sea takes this coquina, this limestone back, pitted with eye-socket caves, thumbprint caves, caves the shape of a breath, and one you could fit your face in a mask.

Waves crash and the rocks hurl sea to sky in great plumes, cirrus already, above the shipwrecks.

Someone flaps her arms like a seabird, like a wave stretching out, and nothing stays.

41

mare tranquilitatis blue as this atlantic afternoon

42

smaller & smaller standing under norfolk pine

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sunlight thru boat-frames ribs that voyage

44

cant see anymore its the night-light

45

must be the tide

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waves & whyshould you be different

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sea oatshold fast

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waves break the only light

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a full life even if

you only hear

a single wave

break