Luke HankinsLittoral
Littering the sacred shoreline, seaweed swarmed
with aquatic life, writhing as the tide receded,
the sun’s body yet invisible, though his glow
infused the sky – harbinger of his ascent.
I had seen the druids perform mysteries here –
uncomprehending, I came now to perform my own.
Storm had stirred the sea the day before,
unchaining the green vessels of life
that swayed before me. Now was the time,
sun on horizon’s brink, between times.
Now was the time of mystery and I circled
in the surf, chanted water-sounds, rhythmic,
wave after wave, until the sun saw me.
Homeward now, before they knew I had gone,
before they knew who I was and what
mystery I had become, breaching with the sun.
Bio:
Luke Hankins is a student in the Indiana University M.F.A. program, where he holds the Yusef Komunyakaa Fellowship in Poetry. His poetry has recently appeared, or is forthcoming, in The Modern Review, Poetry Southeast, The Rectangle, Southern Poetry Review, and Verse Libre Quarterly.
