New Wave

I dangle my legs beneath the sea wall,
the tingle of water making me aware 
of my existence between ocean and sky.  

Below, rainbow scales slip in and out,
in perfect duplication of waves
pounding, curling away  from gabions.

My feet follow the streamline
ebbing away to the global mass 
just below the refracting sun.

My  hand fins, cutting S’s in the air, 
slicing through  the prism of the 
green below in the blue above.

For a breath, I’m a speckled fish—
one needing the tide to pause
to swim through to the next curl,

chasing a horizon that can’t be caught
as long as I need to breathe above the tide,
punch a fist to the sky and walk the earth.

I can only surf the foam, feeling the salt
burn my nose and throat with every gulp
and paddle back to the ossified shore,

knowing each time I jump into the swell,
feet seeking water, arms stretching 
to the sky, the waters will cast me back.