I.
Bound by rocky headlands,
this northern coast is hard
and sharp: few beaches
greet the pounding surf.
I paddle through an ocean
studded with islands,
each a small world in itself:
Birch Island frames Little Harbor,
the sheltered waters home to herons,
cormorants, and eiders;
Hay Island holds two hand-hewn
houses; ospreys nest on the tip
of Crow Island. I gentle my speed
through the Thread of Life, watch
the spring-born seal pups swim
fearlessly alongside their cautious
mothers. After paddling through the Thread,
I land on Thrumcap Island’s rare beach.
At high tide, the water shines
turquoise above the creamy sand,
a mix of stone and crushed shells:
oysters, whelk, blue mussels,
snails, and clams. I carry my boat
high above the reaching waves,
tear off my shirt, dive
into the relentless sea.
II.
Buoyed by the salt water,
I float weightless and free
until I no longer feel
the cold. I emerge goose
pimpled, lie on the sand
to soak in the sun. As I drift
toward sleep, a woman paddles
onto the beach. I recognize
her face, even though we
haven’t seen her for ten years
at least. You used to play
kick-the-can with her
and the other island girls.
She doesn’t know me
at first, and nervous, shy,
I don’t offer a greeting.
Until, with a flicker, she sees
you within me. Is it you? she asks.
I stand up fast, nod, cross
my arms over my scarred,
flat chest. It’s confusing,
introducing myself
to someone you knew.
But she’s friendly enough,
so we stand in the surf
and watch the gulls wheel
over the churning waves.
III.
Here in this one place
both you and I have lived,
you luster, flash
bright.
I branch away from you
then back then
away.
Tell me
am I the fig
and you the wasp?
Am I sound and you Echo?
Am I the pomegranate
and you
the seed?
Excerpted from GHOST :: SEEDS (Texas Review Press, Nov. 2023). Preorder it via Bookshop.
Sebastian Merrill’s debut collection GHOST :: SEEDS was selected by Kimiko Hahn as the winner of the 2022 X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize and will be forthcoming in Fall 2023 from Texas Review Press. The winner of the 2022 Levis Prize for Poetry from Friends of Writers, Sebastian was selected as a member of the 2023 Get the Word Out inaugural poetry cohort for debut writers from Poets & Writers. A staff-scholar for the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in 2022 and 2023 and the Summer 2023 Warren Wilson MFA Alumni Residency Fellow, Sebastian has also received support from Tin House Workshop and the Juniper Summer Writing Institute. The recipient of the Rodney Jack Scholarship from Friends of Writers, he holds an MFA in Poetry from Warren Wilson College and a BA from Wellesley College. sebastianmerrill.com
Photos by the author.
