It’s on our bucket list, so we venture out into the jewel deep

Fearful and trembling, scooping out thunder bit by bit
Like a huge black bird, flapping its sudden surf at us

The sea welcomes and terrifies
Our lips keep shivering with each other’s exhalation

Wet eyelids meet a cheek, there is a guessed-at shoulder bite
Just as the waves, in dippy imitation, sink ravenous milk

teeth into the guessed-at shore, a groaning mess
Thorns of foam whip our skin with force

But, laughing, we call them thunderous doves
We must believe in unseen things more than we fear

Death—the most invisible of them all
In the vigorous and violent night, love’s dignity

Sharpens our breath and straps us on its chest
Like radiant grace