Grace Harbour

Grace Harbour First into Grace Harbour Me in classic sailboat At anchor alone In Desolation Sound Where silence reveals the place And the world is bigger Because I can hear its’ vastness It’s Bioacoustic diversity Seals surface, gulls dive, water ripples. A breeze in a cedar whispers The buzz of a bumblebee. The distant whistle of an eagle trembles in air And falling droplets of rain taste of spruce. The very place sparkles in silent sound and my soul is still No need to block out The combat zone of flashing messages. From CNN and Fox. But stillness of silence Is reflected in blue water and framed by oyster encrusted rocks, While green and orange algae talk Tidal pools and purple sea stars walk And I can hear the world as music. -------------------------------------------- War, bombs and shrapnel. Roaring yachts arrive like Hummers or tanks from Kandahar Stacked high with gadgets, guns hanged, Travelling as a pack of waking house-mobiles To conquer wilderness with bars, showers, propane barbecues Gas generators, deep freezers, and boom-boxes All sorts of folks; models in bikinis with pedigree dogs. Fashion ladies in silk that launch revving zodiacs To carry standard poodles for an urgent pee. Then ‘A Tea Cup Yorkshire terrier’ yelps At a Jack Russell that barks at a Chihuahua As a Dachshund and Afghan Hound take offense In frenzied jealousy. Big hipped humans scream ashore in tenders. Acoustic awareness numbed The get-away-from-it-allers that bring it all always, partied. As night fell they turned the generators off “I haven’t seen any wildlife”, said one, “There was more to feed at the zoo” Said the other boomer “Yea, where’s the loon.” Fixed ideas of progress consume. Then our mother moon In full dress exposed an array of limpets Of many sizes and shapes all clinging to obvious rocks Exchanging freedom for the security Of a defensive shell of fixed ideas And automated reflexes. It is useless to talk kindly to a limpet One must detach it by main force.