2nd European Poetry Festival, 9/17/2011

In a week the first guests of the Festival will arrive. First early in morning flying in from San Francisco is devorah major who has advise and strong thoughts to offer. The first poem she'll read is: tempest. Storm in Dutch.

does the ocean understand
the land she smooths and softens
   
put a value on the minerals she extracts
from shells she has pounded
from bones she has chewed
from wood she has sucked
from iron she has bathed

does the ocean see her color
liquid crystal transformed
when painted by sun and dusted by silt
until she becomes gray and brown 
blue and silver, sparkling green froth
as she grows and recedes
paying no attention
to the sufferance of humans
beyond offering the gift of her song
that hums in singular contentment
or howls a deep enduring sadness

does the ocean feel the shape
of each mountain she contains

how some of her lithe torso
with the gentlest of rotating currents
or through the thrusting of storms
cuts paths and rounds ridges
spoon caves and craft nooks
where life finds sanctuary
or meets destruction

does the ocean plan her lessons

stillness without quiet
light inside darkness
how she nurtures life
and how she ends it
without pity or remorse