as soon as the wave recedes
by John Davis

tuck beach glass 
	under your tongue
		suck the salt of the ocean
close your eyes 
		fin among 
the salmon the seaweed
		the calcified algae and kelp

become the red laver
			with ruffled margins
swaying in waves
red flattened blades
			deep purple with age

you are fringe 
		hanging 
			from the edges 
					of eel grass
light and shade 
		purply pink
when water divides something
				other than water

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John Davis is the author of Gigs and The Reservist. His work has appeared recently in DMQ Review, Iron Horse Literary Review and at Terrain.org. He lives on an island in the Salish Sea and performs in blues bands.