What may have been A shark in the water
was truly a beast in the eye–
–with the bay collected in buckets
my mind was broader than the see and deeper

than doubt. The water lapp’d neatly at my chin and collar;
the shadow of a cloud elipsing reason. A shark,
that certain blur beneath the surface. A shark,
there, wave-line paleness reflecting sunrays.

With a moment less than knowing, I slipped below
and beat the water into froth, feeling all along a fin
against me — A shark turning over and over —
Dare I look back into the sea, know for certain he was there?
–ECW