|
Hard to image—
because
you live far from the coast—
the
way the islands drift in winter,
floating fragments lining the horizon,
breaking
the skyline into mirage
upon an unseen fog.
I’m
sure your eyes would disbelieve
this vision of islands caught
in suspense,
hanging
in mid-light above the sea,
slowly
separating, gently
expanding
until they splinter
and
float apart.
I
want to take you sailing there,
across the channel to phantom
shores,
where the hard-packed soil
feels
just
like homeland, dusty and solid
despite
the illusion,
waiting
like a dream.
—Abigail
Brandt
from The
Geography of Home:
California
’s Poetry of Place
edited by Christopher Buckley
and Gary Young
Heyday Books, 1999 |
