Midnight Breakers

'Point Judith, Rhode Island' - Oil painting by Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904)

Tonight, as midnight breakers raked and rolled

The glistening pebbles down the streaming beach,

I glimpsed a sombre glory, dark and cold;

A majesty beyond my spirit's reach.

And looking heavenwards I saw a star,

Vivid and true, trapped in the folds of night;

A pin-point beacon blazing from afar,

Enthralling every surging wave with light:

Flickers and flares of pale and austere gold

Marking the swell of sea towards the land,

Where midnight breakers pulled and raked and rolled

The glistening pebbles through the weeping sand . . .

                                       

                                                                        Febrin LePadden