Days of thundering surf
And the sea’s finally at ease
A full moon lays light
Along the tide the beach dune grass
And glows the trunks
And tips of the palms
Across the water
An ignorant army
With a history of domestic violence
Pounds the hospitals and schools
Sister cities
Flesh of its own flesh
The sea is calm tonight
Country music drifts
Down from the balcony above
And someone’s cooking with curry
No emergency vehicles wailing by
And stocks seem headed
For an all-time high
But the shelling we see
Hits too close to home
Might as well be
Pummeling loved ones up the coast
Note: this poem references
‘Dover Beach’ by Matthew Arnold
written in the 19th century
Chuck O’Neil
Poet Laureate of Milford