“Do chase the ebbing Neptune”
by W. Wayne Lin

It must be a mistake.
I thought it was a promise,
you would be the last one
left without saying goodbye.
You said it all comes and goes.
When all are gone,
I can dig and dig
like the sandpipers chasing the beach crabs.

It was a turbulent storm,
the night you arrived,
you drew a line in the sand
and swore you would come again.

This morning, I hurried back,
the line disappeared,
I dug and dug, not there.
At night,
when the moon was half bright;
in the dark, no trace, no sign.

Day, night, I went back;
new lines, old lines,
crossed my heart,
smudged, blurred my eyes,
storms, waves, ripples …
pounding, slapping, murmuring.

You were not the only one
drew a line through my name.

O God, everything is just water,
swallow, spit it out, let it go,
cry out loud,
I heard it again and again.

Still, I keep going back when
sun rises or
moon is behind the moonlight.



 

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