Passion's Shore Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

Warm languid fluids of the day
Now wash against night's darkened pose
again a silver passion grows
and strengthens in the musky bay

are you a sailor bold and fine
or pirate sent to make me die
on sunbaked salty deck so cruel
cursed by old ghosts and albatross

your somber face and words so few
would almost trap a maiden fair

yet night reveals a deeper well
which bubbles up each little shell
day's fascination glibly hid
beneath a skin of pulsing blood

incense and candles' fragrant smoke
curl up against gray salty veils
as harbor lights announce at last
you're free my child from cursed past

fingers of hope now gently tend
green glossy seaweeds in my hair
clam shells glint boldly underfoot
winking at oysters in a dare

the sea still whispers roars in song
as garments drench and fill with hope
of that one island and its shore
where day and night send overtones
to pale green bays of buried bones.