Alexander Etheridge—The Sea and the Light

—after Antonio Machado

We never know how the ocean

will finally take us under—

We wait in our dark boats

under the burning moon,

thunderclouds gathering.

One by one, everyone we love

slips quietly under the glassy

and black waters, their story

over—But it doesn’t mean

our prayers are ignored.

We take our faith out

to the center of the sea,

our hearts full, our minds

listening, only listening

to storm-echos and the first

raindrops on water. At last,

we close our eyes to see further,

sinking into such light and quiet.

Alexander Etheridge

Alexander Etheridge has been developing his poems and translations since 1998. His poems have been featured in The Potomac Review, Scissors and Spackle, Ink Sac, Cerasus Journal, The Cafe Review, The Madrigal, Abridged Magazine, Susurrus Magazine, The Journal, Roi Faineant Press, and many others. He was the winner of the Struck Match Poetry Prize in 1999, and a finalist for the Kingdoms in the Wild Poetry Prize in 2022. He is the author of, God Said Fire, and the forthcoming, Snowfire and Home.