torn, at 9:27pm

blame it on adam, this need
to label everything
we see.
and sometimes feel.

you see, between a “word”
and the “thing” lies
an often unbridgeable gap
wide as the gulf

which stretches out before me
like a faithful lover
out to horizon’s
dusky edge.

try as we might,
sometimes no words
can do justice
to that eternal wellspring

arising from our human heart
which beats
to hold the unknowable,
that eternally

unnameable what-you-will
as stars twinkle
and shine right overhead.
yet, most days

this world makes no sense
and seems as black
as any night
enshrouding all my dreams.

ii.

channel buoys flash green
as waves keep rolling in,
their foamy reach
mere inches from my feet.

i wish you could stand
one night on this beach
and feel
the magnificence

where sea and sand meet,
of a beauty
more real than guns
or tears —

and our all-too-human fears
which tear it all apart.