In verse: Maine places and people

Produced by Maine Poetry Central and Dennis Camire

This week’s poem is by Mark Melnicove of Falmouth and celebrates the power of imagination.

The Sea Is What He Gathers

By Mark Melnicove

A boy who lived inland at mountain’s edge wanted

to see the sea.

He could not drive a car; his parents said, The sea?

It is too far, too far.

Disappointed, he ran out the screen door to the garden

where he peered

at distant ridges, to imagine what waved beyond them.

Then, it began to rain.

Cupping his hands, he gathered drop by drop a new

sea surrounded by his flesh.

Swimming there, fishes and whales brushed their lips

ever so softly over the lines of his palms.

Dennis Camire can be reached at [email protected]

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