ILÀ: DEEP OCEAN WAVE

                                    —for ilà Benavidez

1. In the cathedral of the ocean

beneath the marriage of waves and sky,

ilà dances tai chi’i with the sea,

the deep undertow, the movement,

the voices and vows of long waves,

is where whales sing the first

and final notes of the songline.

The edge of the continent

pulls the surf over her like a bride,

so that we may be ready for the wedding.

Gossamer filaments of the priestess.

What once was dark becomes light,

night’s secrets spread beneath the moon.

A bioluminescent genesis lifts the hem

of this beach into the realm of the stars.

How to slow down in this rapidly rising world?

Once light slept, didn’t know

the nocturnal soul of the heron,

and stars were the tears of angels.

Now city light stains the sky,

upstages the stars.

Once we were all islands.

The weight of who we are in this century

sinks us knee-deep into the sand

until we can do nothing

but walk in time with ourselves.

This is the first study for breath:

The burden of air, ponderous

and precocious.

2. ilà, I’d want the cool night air

because the sky is the ocean

and I don’t know the words

for the direction the voice takes.

The struggle is in transcribing

the right notes in the sand

so it can find true night.

The sky is your country

and the sea, your house.