1.

We loved you for your expanse rolling miles beyond
the horizon which itself is far and faint. At our feet
you wore a charming mask of froth and glitter.
It hid your indifference.

2.

Fifteen hundred known shipwrecks, the bones
of sailors, of lovers and yes, of drunks,
churning beneath your murderous waves, and yet
you continue, under fair skies, under moonless nights,
to entice your lovers from rocky shores, from jetties
into your cold cold arms

3.

We dump our sewage into your depths, claiming
no other recourse, and radioactive waste
at levels deemed acceptable. Trash washes up on beaches.
Bacteria and pollutant counts rise as do the deaths
of your spined and spineless creatures. A stink rises.
We too can be indifferent.

CJ Muchhala’s work has been exhibited in regional poetry / art installations, published in anthologies, print and on-line publications including Thimble Literary Magazine and is forthcoming in a North Sea Poetry Scene Press anthology commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9/11. She lives in Shorewood, Wisconsin.