Ebb

by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh

Tormented by the sea
that keeps you from me
I lift the night’s tears
from this bed that loves you
& take them to the shore
there, I set them adrift

before me the cormorant
a white-throated arrow
she shears the spray
& the light of one thousand gems scatters
the beauty of this & the memory of you
pierces my heart, cleaves it into pieces

I spill them here together with your name
know that the songs they begin to sing