A Prayer
This is my prayer to the sea: Help.
Not against typhoons and shipwreck, Not against pirates and whirlpools, the storybook perils, Strandings on desert islands, sea serpents, mutiny, All the old-fashioned adventures. But help Against oil: The tearing open of tankers, beaches like toffee, Icebergs with valances, slicks the size of Yorkshire, Birds crashing on take-off — Against missiles: Spat from submarines, breaking The surface in flurry and foam, already invisible, Bound for their white-hot assignation — Against warmth: The ice-caps sweating, the high tides getting higher, The railings uprooted, the beach-huts afloat, The water trespassing onto the lawns, Salt on the roses, blotches on drawing-room carpets, Old ladies in upstairs bedrooms feeling the damp — Sea, this is my prayer: Stay as you were. Laurence Lerner.
Previous page
