16. The sea rises and falls

The sea rises and falls

climbing the rungs on a ladder

it lifts and lowers;

breathes in and out

the harboured safety.

Feet, too, have

ebbed and flowed

on this artisan escalator;

pleased to be returned

from the jaws of storms,

or gleefully boarding

for pleasure boat jaunts.

As tree rings reveal age

here the worn indentures

of footfall

shout antiquity

smoothed beyond splinters

by the glossy varnish

of sweaty hands.