What will the sea throw up today?
Its behavior is not known or unknown
Three days ago, two days ago and one day ago
It throw huge waves, thunderously, upon the shore
Today that same sea is calm and innocent
Lending to us a feeling of control
But the subliminal knowledge that we control nothing
Where is the dune that was created over the last fifteen years?
Covered with grasses and vines with long spidery roots
Over seven feet tall in places and twenty-five feet across
The sea stormed its way in and took it away
In its recovery it took all of my totems
It took my eight-foot square meditating deck
And the thirty year old bench that we sat on
It claimed part of another, older dune and
Did this without a permit from
The Department of Environmental Quality
The department with its man rules that
Make things impossible for those who wanted
To build a lovely home on the magnificent shore
Because one endangered Lily stood in the way
The sea has reclaimed the Lily and without a doubt
Thrown it with the current to a new location to flourish
This is what the sea does; it has no rules, but just is
We foolishly get in the way of nature with our novel ideas
Build walls which finally, in time, break down
But, oh, I remember them well and weren’t they great
Especially when the light of the setting sun fell upon them
The sea is forever changing and we are helpless
We reverse rivers to our own detriment
Rivers are straightened and swamp drained
Until the unintended consequences come to pass
Then we spend millions and billions trying to restore
Will we ever learn? That is the question
Today the answer is no, but then there is hope
Stanski
December 10, 2019 ^
Skip to content
Steve Haarman 