A Warning Poem by RIC BASTASA

the sea knows how to dream
and dream
it will
still dream about a jellyfish
a flesh
of a jelly fish, and it will sleep and think
about this dream of more flesh
and sting
and fling
its salt like the tentacles of the jellyfish
to the fish
and the sea urchins

and starfish begin their journey to the shores
where desire stops but does not end

i am the sea and i dream about her tentacles
her flesh
and the pain
in my skin

the needles of the urchin
and the hardness of the starfish and the shore
where i lay

to desires that do not end
to loves lost to wishes that it may regain again

sea dreams sea pains sea urchins
the boat on fire and the captain drowning