Poet's Corner

My Beard Grows Lengthy 'Neath These Waves

By John Randall Dodd, Soldotna

My beard grows lengthy 'neath these waves of north atlantic deep.

It's been far too long since I felt the cool razor slide

from stem to stern, the sting of spirit'd salt in my curves.

I spend my hours in quiet, slumber'd peace

'neath the solitary white star,

the cold silence of northerly nautical latitudes.

My grave, my corpse (the latticework of mold'd steel,

my decay'd frame, my broken pieces scatter'd

amongst the silence of scuttling crabs and colour'd fish)

hides, disguises my opulent beauty, my former splendor,

my elegance, my decadence, my sheer audacity

to taunt inevitability. I was unsinkable!

Yet here I lie-- a sunken heap 'neath the salt'd waves

so cold, so deep, a titanic, solemn shelter,

my sweeping strands, now host to auquatic creatures' creep.

Poems must include the writer's name, phone number and address. They should be kept to no more than 300 words. Submission of a poem does not guarantee publication. Poems may be e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com, faxed to 283-3299, delivered to the Clarion at 150 Trading Bay Road or mailed to P.O. Box 3009, Kenai, AK 99611.