Sketches: By the Sea
by Samuel Menashe
1.
That black man running
Headlong on the beach
Throws back the white
Soles of this feet
Lighting strikes
Twice on the sand
Left foot and right,
My pen in hand
2.
Hearing the sea
Not seeing it
On the other side
Of the dunes
Is enough for me
This morning
The distance I keep
From the sea I hear
Brings distance near
3.
At night, off shore
Sometimes the lights
On the fishing boats
Sink out of sight
That string of lights
Salt water wets
Makes the fish rise
To tridents and nets
from New and Selected Poems, Expanded Edition
(Library of America, 2008)