Poem to the Sea

I watch you, my friend,  
your vast belly  
undulating in rhythms  
to some mystic dance;  
your gentle suspirations  
and balming murmurs  
that leave the heart entranced;  
your cold and watery hues:  
now green in the shallows  
now black in the depths --  
where uncounted fathoms  
halt the light's advance:  
I call you the sea --  
but every moment you change.  
You defy my conceptions.  
You swallow whole  
my ships of fancy --  
as you wash away the words  
I write upon your sands.