On the beach, the high-water mark,
Unrecognizable fragments connected
in a deathly grey tangle under a sky swept
clean. Seagulls. Some movement left in the
surf, remnants of storm and gusts of wind
extinguish in the white breaking of waves
as far as the eye can see skeletons of ships
thrown on the beach, sea monsters, shells,
carbide white as snow, planks eaten by
the salt seawater. Ship’s wood. Flotsam.
_______________________________________________________________
After the storm
by Enno de Witt
Enno de Witt’s poetry is firmly rooted in a tradition that goes all the way back to the dawn of language and to his youth on the Dutch North Sea coast. De Witt lives in the medieval city of Deventer on the banks of the river IJssel in The Netherlands. His poetry is published in The Netherlands, the USA and the UK.
