PoetryMagazine.com J. P. Dancing Bear

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Since 1996 Volume XXI

J. P. Dancing Bear

J. P. Dancing Bear is editor for the American Poetry Journal and Dream Horse Press. Bear also hosts the weekly hour-long poetry show, Out of Our Minds, on public station, KKUP and available as podcasts. He is the author of thirteen collections of poetry, his latest book is, Love is a Burning Building (FutureCycle Press, 2014).

The Sea’s Cruel Lover

Behind her an ocean fills the apartment,
although he never notices,
sitting in his chair
reading the paper.
She is wearing her black dress
and contemplating a night out.
Sand sifts across her feet
with the sway of the water
while the waves break
and lap against the wall;
everything is silent
enough to hear his breathing.
She twists the ring around her finger
when a strong urge comes over her
to strip and plunge into the tide,
paddle to the middle of the living
room and beckon him to join her—
perhaps, if anything, to prove
some terrible a point—a point
that is too late for all
the lighthouses in the world.