POETRY IN ACTION: The Old Man on the Beach by John Grey, Australia

This great potential.,

these un-launched gifts,

this passion guarded,

these powers on hold,

waiting for the years to catch up…

and then what?

the self-loathing

of the possible laid waste,

of promise somewhere

to the rear of years,

a crippled soldier

grabbing at the dirt, the air…

not nonpareil, not champion,

not lauded, merely dignified

by ocean cruising up the toes,

sand a-foot, sun and shadow,

or, camped out on the rocks,

as waves roll in,

a sanguine pose amidst

sharp-shinned splinters splattering.

 

 

Advertisements