What the sea brings forth
there is a beach in St. Petersburg,
some of the mothers come here
before dawn.
sometimes, they make a fire
and say a little prayer holding hands.
sometimes, they sit in silence
in company of the waves, feet buried
in beach sand,
staring into the distance.
but
what does the sea
bring forth
to shore?
fringing coral reefs,
of a dull orange colour,
seashells with a winding herringbone
pattern,
cowries – coins of a lost civilization
and photographs of strangers.
the sea brings everything to them
but not the boys they bid goodbye to war.
some of the mothers come here
before dawn.
sometimes, they make a fire
and say a little prayer holding hands.
sometimes, they sit in silence
in company of the waves, feet buried
in beach sand,
staring into the distance.
but
what does the sea
bring forth
to shore?
fringing coral reefs,
of a dull orange colour,
seashells with a winding herringbone
pattern,
cowries – coins of a lost civilization
and photographs of strangers.
the sea brings everything to them
but not the boys they bid goodbye to war.
photo credit: Ricardo Esquivel from pexels.com
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Abdulsalam Adeiza SadiqSadiq Abdulsalam Adeiza is a writer and poet from Okene, Nigeria. Some of his writings have been published in Kalahari Review, Ice Floe Press, FieryScribe Review, Praxis Magazine, The Shallow Tales Review, Feral: A journal of poetry and art (Best of the Net Nominee 2021), POEMIFY and elsewhere.
Twitter: @SAAdeiza |