Moss Landing Poem by Steven Federle

Framed in darkness
like birds in deep silence
the sky and sea breathe
in steel blue longing
remembering the dying sun
and the cries of gulls diving.

On insubstantial sand
we watch an impossible ship
moving and not moving
like a silent cloud at the edge of the world.

I can see no men aboard
although I know they are there.
I know they are in steel rooms,
warmed by twisting turbines,
softly cursing,
listening to the night.

The sand moves under us
as we walk to the sea.
Our steps change forever the earth.
The sea changes forever,
we change the sky with our breath
and wind-blown sand covers our feet.

Yet we move,
and for a while we walk
away from the sea.

The sea will change.
The sky will change.
They will wait.
There’s no hurry.