How do we know the sea deeply,
This vast accompaniment to shore?
In truth … never so completely,
By acquaintance; nothing more.
In her shallows, at water’s edge,
Where lapping waves decay,
Her ripples sound a common pledge,
Her splash has much to say.
At deeper depths, in rougher seas,
Where waves compound their force,
Fathom not her vagaries,
Nor delve her inner source.
. She is the ocean, of seven seas construed,
. To each apply the notion of independent mood.

© Tim Grace, 16 February 2011

To the reader: Surges of emotion modify our moods. In the shallows we enjoy the ripples that tickle us out of tedium. We take pleasure in the tease of a dying wave. But with a rising tide there comes a wash of new temperament. Playfulness retreats. An ankle deep sensation casts us into deeper thought. The seaward message is relentless with warning and alarm… take care.

To the poet: Marshall McLuhan coined ‘the medium is the message’ to illustrate that content is transformed through the process of communication. The context of content influences interpretation. The written word is a poet’s content, the medium is speech. Through speech a poem is unpacked, given emphasis; made sharp, made blunt, given gloss or dulled.

she is the ocean