Honorable Mention: “Words on Water” international writing contest, 2023.
To Sur, with Love
Cragged cliffs rise to endless verde
Cypress, Monterey Pines and scrub
at Willow Creek, Sand Dollar, Jade Cove
Sweeps of fluid azures
Sets of waves 1…2…3…4…
Calm…
Across the beckoning Pacific
Waves 1…2…3…4
They Ride Epoxy Ponies
through bobbing heads of Medusa’s kelp
With predatory skills, they Watch, Wait, Hunt
for… the wave
Frothy peaks, boils, chop, spray
Music of the cresting tide
in mists of salt-laden surf
Cleansing their spirits and souls
Endless paddling on tiny board boats
Rewarded with glorious glides
barely beyond clutches
of neck-breaking cruel rocks
on beach break
How Far – is too far out?
Waves – how High is too high?
Paddle further, further still
Rip currents, undertows, tides, hooligan waves
Forestall foreboding
of four-wave hold-downs’
grey-black pillow
One breath from death
Yet. Yet, they Rise to walk on water
Like Jesus’ sons
Apostles of aching shoulders
Penitents of stiffened backs
Struggling: Reborn!
on beach’s gritty sand and sunrays
Returned to sweet water
of River Jordan
Baptismal clear
by “Poet” J.Macon King
Plaskett Creek Camp at Sand Dollar Beach
5th Annual “Words on Water” international writing contest, 2023.