Poem: “Tether”
April 29: 30 days of new poems for National Poetry Month
Published in
Apr 30, 2024
Tether
Whatever cannot be learned of life at the ocean’s
edge, I don’t care to know. Here, there is humility,
perspective, grace. The world leader, the general,
the celebrity, the billionaire — all will drown as I would,
were my back turned to the waves. And while we
each leave this world on the same terms of departure,
we do not enter on equal ground. My enemy’s
inheritance is the will to kill. Mine is to survive.
Sunbathers have left. Volleyball games are done.
All that remains are netless poles, forgotten towels,
and street dogs who can finally run free while their
unhoused humans tighten down their tarps against
the rising wind. We are, all of us, tied to something.
None has dominion over what we are tethered to.
