Reassurance[Edward Hopper. Hills: South Truro]
The only straight line
is the horizon
and even that will curve
as vision broadens
like a wide-angle lens
The dunes of South Truro
hummock and slope
crawling like landlubbered seals
inland from the sea
Shelves of beachgrass
and saltmeadow creep inward
from the eroding shore
towards my planked
and shingled lodge hunkering defensively
huddled against spray and blizzard-sting
of winter storms
A bleak prospect - except
There is a kind of reassurance
drinking hob-boiled coffee
seated before a glowing stove
in a cane chair covered
with an old Shaker quilt
That sets me to feel
the storm will pass
over my head as surely
as the night-wheeling stars
and the slate-backed skuas always do
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