The Sea's Gift

She who whispered as a sea shell to my ear,
Crossed the Atlantic, whose calms gave her speech;
Whose seas gave her love, whose gales arms to reach
Across dockyards of nights, made haven here.

On what dreams I listed, slept in what fear
Between iceberg blankets of the long screech
Of silences that crowded like gulls, each
Fear she calmed; loving, comforted, held dear.

As ships return to the port they come from,
She returned, berthed home in her New Haven,
Who was the gift of the sea, who puffed sails
Of love with her breath; what shores I cruised, drummed
Music of her body, who crossed the sea when
Calm was gone. Now her silence loosens gales.