Elizabeth Smither: "The Sea Question"

The sea asks "How is your life now?"
It does so obliquely, changing colour.
It is never the same on any two visits.

It is never the same in any particular
Only in generalities: tide and such matters
Wave height and suction, pebbles that rattle.

It doesn't presume to wear a white coat
But it questions you like a psychologist
As you walk beside it on its long couch.

"The Sea Question" by Elizabeth Smither, from The Tudor Style. © Auckland University Press, 1993.

Photography credit: "The Winter Beach / La Playa de Invierno," by Jesus Solana (originally color).