The tide heaves from the sucking sand,
……..the alabaster tilt of moon,
offering pebbles of glass, sharks’ teeth,
and sand dollars no bigger than a penny.
……..We find starfish
knotted in tufts of blowing sea foam,
……..and unfold them, limb
……..by limb, ray by ray—
……..spiny pinioned facets
becoming something recognizable,
….spanning flesh, filling twilight.
•••
Laura Sobbott Ross has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in The Florida Review, Calyx, Natural Bridge, Tar River Poetry, Slow Trains, and The Caribbean Writer, among many others. She was named a finalist in the Creekwalker Poetry Prize.
tongues of the ocean 
A. Philip Armbrister
An intriguing poem, complete in each line. It contains more than meets the eye and it unfolds before you as do the starfish, it is then you find appreciation.
Althea Romeo-Mark
Lovely. You slowly reveal the secrets of the sea, then focus of the starfish and it wonders. It gives the reader a new appreciation of their surroundings.