1. In the cathedral of the ocean
beneath the marriage of waves and sky,
ilą dances tai chi’i with the sea,
the deep undertow, the movement,
the voices and vows of long waves,
is where whales sing the first
and final notes of the songline.

The edge of the continent
pulls the surf over her like a bride,
so that we may be ready for the wedding.
Gossamer filaments of the priestess
What once was dark becomes light,
night’s secrets spread beneath the moon.
A bioluminescent genesis lifts the hem
of this beach into the realm of the stars.

How to slow down in this rapidly rising world?
Once light slept, didn’t know
the nocturnal soul of the heron,
and stars were the tears of angels.
Now city light stains the sky,
upstages the stars.

Once we were all islands.
The weight of who we are in this century
sinks us knee-deep into the sand
until we can do nothing
but walk in time with ourselves.
This is the first study for breath:
The burden of air, ponderous
and precocious.

2. ilą, I’d want the cool night air
because the sky is the ocean
and I don’t know the words
for the direction the voice takes.
The struggle is in transcribing
the right notes in the sand
so it can find true night.
The sky is your country
and the sea, your home.