sea longing

i spoke of the sea today
and listened to someone
speak of it to me.

we both talked of how
the ocean makes us feel small.
it made me want to find
my book of poems of the sea.

i found it and looked for a poem
that would utter words similar
to those exchanged earlier.

i found one that was strangely similar
to what was spoken between us.
this is it.


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sea longing

a thousand miles beyond this sun-steeped wall
xxsomewhere the waves creep cool along the sand,
xxthe ebbing tide forsakes the listless land
with the old murmur, long and musical;
the windy waves mount up and curve and fall,
xx and round the rocks the foam blows up like snow—
xx tho' i am inland far, i hear and know,
for i was born the sea's eternal thrall.
i would that i were there and over me
xx the cold insistence of the tide would roll,
xx quenching this burning thing men call the soul,—
then with the ebbing i should drift and be
xx less than the smallest shell along the shoal,
less than the seagulls calling to the sea.

~sara teasdale