​POETRY 

"It must be quite exciting.
So many tourists checking your schedule:
time you rise, time you fall;"

​                                  Photo by Weebly.com                                    

Ten and a Half Foot Tides
by Wayne Lin

​It must be quite exciting.
So many tourists checking your schedule:
time you rise, time you fall;
following your agenda,
down Bridge Street, Bar Harbor,
by way of the trail
in the middle of the ocean to Bar Island,
like Moses took Israelites through the Red Sea.
 
Time and again, you hold onto your principle.
Such a vigorous ritual.
How did you find time to sleep and wake in time?
Wrapping up your prayers in Matins
as you come to change the world,
washing away all the footprints of yesterday,
layer by layer,
like adding blanket in the cold night;
like a councilor,
one conferring, one sheet,
a swimmer one lap two laps,
rower one stroke two strokes,
synchronizing every part of you,
lifting all tides to reach the same height as before,
deep enough to cover up whatever happened
in the prior act.
Like a staging director
manages to change each setup;
young, old, babies, strollers,
very old, wheelchairs,
shoes, no shoes, sandals, flip-flops. . .
swamp in the summer heat;
in the cold snowy winter,
no one comes.
 
No matter what,
you are always ready for the next act;
nap before Vespers;
summon Moses to come
move the ocean aside,
exposing the trail to Bar Island. 
 
Every time I am tired and exhausted,
I love to dream. . .
sitting on the rock of that tiny terrace,
in between the town and trail,
overlooking all the work
you had to pull off,
listening to your prayers,
day in day out.
Act or no act,
once again
I’m prepared to unearth
the magic of my daily humdrum,
out of dream, I’ll dance.

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​​Wayne Lin is a member of OLLI at SF State, an Associate Member of the Academy of American Poets, as well as a member of the California State Poetry Society. His poetry has recently appeared in The Lyric, Poetry Quarterly, Ibbetson Street, California Quarterly, (California State Poetry Society), Wisconsin Review, Main Street Rag, Rosebud Literary Magazine, Loch Raven Review, Time of Singing poetry Journal and Chronogram Magazine. Wayne currently lives in California with his wife.

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