Ioanna Warwick
Sea Lions After Sunset
---Montana de Oro, California
They have come to watch us.
we entertain them, our waving arms,
our spindly verticals.
some lie on the rocks; a halo of last light
silvers their slow bodies.
others bob in the surf,
a row of sleek heads,
whiskers and big eyes.
We stand, unsteady on the cliffs,
instead of sprawling, soft and oval,
in a friendly pile. Our voices drown
in the wind. How small and thin we are.
twilight thickens along
the blue spines of the hills.
the sea lions gleam obsidian,
more dense than the sheen of water.
As long as we stay, they stay,
a crowd of onlookers.
Only the rhythmic bloom of waves,
and the eyes between the waves.
Copyright (C) Ioanna Warwick, 2006. All rights reserved.