the waves are like glass against the rocky shore
fragmented bits of glass falling back
into the winter sea
the docks are old and worn
moaning beneath each step taken
the current never yields
yet the docks remain unshaken
above the winter sea
I watch myself watching
from the cliffs overhead
I am the observer and the observed
Or just myself instead
beside the winter sea
I talk to the gray water
I speak to the invisible wind
For no one else can hear me
I am without and within
beyond the winter sea
I often drown in my own thoughts
like an unwary child on the rocks
like the old ships and their passengers
with their wooden chests and iron locks
beneath the winter sea
the gray tide rolls away again
from the ageless shoreline
leaving all but I myself and me
willingly and mindfully alone
me with the winter sea