Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Leonard J. CirinoOctober 13, 2008

The horizon opens like a tulip,
a bouquet for the eyes, and the belly
of the moon sagging there, glistening
light on the water-street that motions
into the headlands. Crossing the sand,
it beckons birds, limbs, moss, all the grotesque
and fevered minds, the lonely and wounded,
the forbidden beasts of this world’s boundaries.
At dawn, the flowers spring up and look,
eyes of children wake, trawlers move out,
and we forget night’s offering of roses,
gifts of mother-of-pearl, as the early
shadows grow huge on the purple waters.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
JesuiticalJune 30, 2025
Kerry Weber, incoming president of the Catholic Media Association, and executive editor of America Magazine, speaks June 26, 2025, during the Catholic Media Conference in Phoenix. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
Kerry Weber is an executive editor for America. On May 20, 2025, the Catholic Media Association announced that she was elected president,
Grace LenahanJune 30, 2025
"The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.