Son of Waves, and: Drawing the Ocean
Rent from DeepDyve- Son of Waves, and: Drawing the Ocean
Son of Waves
for Dylan
You are healthy, growing faster than we thought,
you always will be. Bones
shown by ultrasound bright silver & fleeting.
You moved. A boy. Your mouth was open (a boy).
Flash of skull ribcage spine
Your name means tide flow means born near the sea son of waves.
We went for ice cream to celebrate.
Be born soon. The wars are not going well &
people everywhere begin to despair. [End Page 164]
Drawing the Ocean
There is no way to draw the ocean correctly: do not draw the idea of ocean, do not paraphrase the pulse of crest & trough. Map wind course on the ocean face.
When line is lost, when mind is blinded by sun-glint & breakthrough, keep drawing. Use one-line weaving east & west over sea-foam, wave-arc & horizon. Use the ball-point’s fluid roll.
Reed rush & gull cry etch the page. Your brother’s silhouette, diminishing along surf-line’s periphery, becomes lighthouse. Invite him back
to your drawing. Invite wind to reveal the ocean’s parables. [End Page 165]
Peter Vanderberg is the founding editor of Ghostbird Press. He served in the US Navy from 1999 to 2003 and received an mfa from Queens College, City University of New York. His work has appeared in several journals, including Mud Season Review, CURA, and LUMINA, and his chapbook Crossing Pleasant Lake was published by Red Bird Press. He teaches at St. John’s Preparatory School and Hosftra University.
