Let’s say our days were not immutable
but free for us to order as we choose.
Arrayed at noon, our possibilities
would hang like summer linens airing dry,
blown front- or sidewise in the saltish air,
simultaneous, available.
The prospect of our seaside lands would sprawl,
as: item, one fen; item, one ravine;
one snatch of orchard bruised with ripening fruit.
Still, at the horizon, what sudden wind
gathers now to dash this fantasy
in swells from distant waters drawing close:
a rack of breakers blanketed in smoke,
rolling, consequential, a travesty
of our push to stipulate or fend them off?

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This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 17 Number 9, on page 38
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https://newcriterion.com/issues/1999/5/invention-with-seascape