Olly by the Big-Sea-Water
“Such a big room” Olly thinks
Looking over the Atlantic.
“In there a hundred hearts could disappear,
A hundred men, and nothing but seashells,
Bones like bright china, someone’s gigantic
Distance from home.”
He walks the shore and the cold stones
Soothe his feet.
He pretends they are snowflakes,
Dust fallen from a dragon’s mane,
Something great he has conquered,
Some old tooth-like structures
Inhabited by ghosts, sealskin phantoms.
Farther along the white cliffs
His body becomes a small star,
A fire among the sedges.
Seth Jani lives in Seattle, WA and is the founder of Seven CirclePress (www.sevencirclepress.com). Their work has appeared in Chiron Review, The Comstock Review and Pretty Owl Poetry, among others. Their full-length collection, Night Fable, was published by FutureCycle Press in 2018. More about them and their work can be found at www.sethjani.com.
