coquina

samuddo / ocean
2015

copyright 2015 John Martone

isbn 978-1-329-21770-6
johnmartone@gmail.com

coquina

The Buddha who sat at the foot of the Bodhi and

defeated the army of Mara stands on my head.
The Venerable Moggallana is on my left shoulder
and the Venerable Sariputa is on my right shoulder. The Dhamma dwells in my hearts core. The
Bodhisatta who was born a peacock and who
shines as the sole Benefactor of the world, shields
my feet.

(from the Jinapanjara)

the barrier island come closer this year

a tunnel thru strangler figs

you come to an open
drawbridge

white ibises
the road curves
to his house

mangrove hammocks
where the species
sleep unseen

youre an odd thing on this winter beach

10

a gull steers close

& you see
the resemblance

11

sea grapes
& a bench facing outward
mother resting

12

o sea lavender stop this erosion

13

pelicans
no lifeguards

14

pelican soars
wings spread the greatest blessing

a mind that doesnt flutter

15

bilge
full of
stars

16

naked sky
sea-kayaks
shuttle thru waves

17

paddle
out &
capsize

18

there
you were
now
soli
tary
wave

19

ten thousand turtles

under sand
underfoot

20

every prayer
in reverse
just listen

21

the great waves

withdraw before
sanderling legs

22

sanderling heartbeats
& yours in time
to the sea

23

dune fence
driftwood

24

seawind makes us
change this lockset
twice yearly

25

nature-guides
on shelf
room closed-off

26

ancient oar
on a wall

27

green anole
on bare wall
you make me stand straight

28

green anole
my hands
cant

29

thought it a fine dust

to dust away
orchid seeds

30

even your roots are photosynthetic

31

dancers hands
orchid leaves curl
streaming water

32

white orchid
aeons before
human pelvis

33

all your life

orchid says
mehr Licht!

34

human
eyelids
orchids

35

head bowed
outer ears
an orchid

36

potting orchids
roots & fingers
about the same

37

had lips but

didnt speak
when you were
an orchid

38

lemon tree
slight as you are
lemons

39

anastasia formation
Return to life. Thats inconceivable. Those numberless ones left shells behind to the end of this
holocene, and now the sea takes this coquina,
this limestone back, pitted with eye-socket caves,
thumbprint caves, caves the shape of a breath, and
one you could fit your face in a mask.
Waves crash and the rocks hurl sea to sky in great
plumes, cirrus already, above the shipwrecks.
Someone flaps her arms like a seabird, like a wave
stretching out, and nothing stays.

40

mare tranquilitatis

blue as this atlantic

afternoon

41

smaller & smaller

standing under
norfolk pine

42

sunlight
thru boat-frames ribs
that voyage

43

cant see
anymore
its the night-light

44

must be

the tide

45

waves & why

should you be
different

46

sea oats
hold fast

47

waves break

the only light

48

a full life
even if
you
only
hear
a
single
wave
break

49