As the small wave curls you see
through its clear window
into the house of the sea.
The floor where no one walks.
The air fish breathe in.
You glimpse the space
that opens to shores
of continents. As
the tide withdraws
you stand quiet
within yourself.

© 1995 by Virginia Terris

Virginia Terris is a critic and editor and has authored three volumes of poetry. A recent publication, Meaningful Differences (University of Alabama Press, 1994), is a selection of articles, essays and reviews on the prose and poetry of David Ignatow.