Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
C. Dale YoungJuly 01, 2000

Axis

And then there is the sea,
the matte grey
of the Pacific
filling the horizontal
 

axis of our vision,
no space for clouds
only the white of clouds,
remembered.
 

In San Francisco,
this water had called us
out of our rooms,
out of our lives,

its cold darks
tugging at our ankles.
There were birds, of course,
and the setting sun:
 

say that the birds
were white, grey-white, perhaps;
say that the sunset
was a red no chemist
 

could titrate easily
we would be unable
to corroborate any of it.
Nothing could distract us
 

from where the ground
ended, our cameras charting
the cliffside as it disappeared
into depth and sea foam.

 Nothing but the ocean
engaging the jagged shoreline
could convince us, there
at the edge of the world.
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Frank Turnbull, S.J., a longtime editor at 'America' who died earlier this week, is remembered as a humble, quiet and yet forceful presence to those who knew him during his 85 years of life.
James T. KeaneJuly 18, 2025
A Reflection for Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, by Zac Davis
Zac DavisJuly 18, 2025
Trauma-informed spirituality knows better than to promise that prayer will take away all the pain. But it can offer the hope that, even in the midst of pain, there can be moments of feeling whole.
Nicole KirpalaniJuly 18, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Pope Leo XIV, who urged Israel’s leader to revive negotiations and enact a ceasefire.