Ocean’s Hammock
by W. Wayne Lin

The young crawl,
cling to their surfboards,
paddle against waves all day long.
Sunbathing on the moving sea,
over a huge swaying basin
like a hammock
undulating with the entire ocean.
Beneath the scorching sun,
reverie and cooled by splashes of seawater.

Some big boys,
waiting for a good wave,
half crawling,
half standing,
bracing against the board,
struggling to balance in a low crouch.

The brave striving to plunge,
disappear inside the roaring waves.
Then burst out of soft white foam,
a phantom,
standing, riding the wave,
cutting through rows of white bubbles before landing.

In the woods, the next dawn,
dew evaporates.

Later, sun hidden,
clouds bring brief lightning,
igniting a sudden downpour.

In the shadow of coast redwoods,
a flash of all these images
flickers through my mind;

A day, like a life
circles back to the final verses.*

All … are like a dream,
an illusion, a bubble, a shadow;
like dew,
or a flash of lightning …



*Quoted verses from the Diamond Sutra  

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