If it is art
it will build on everything
that came before it,
and it will add something —

the excitement of
the fresh curve of cresting wave,
bright froth touched
by this singular breath of wind,
the clean erasure of past footprints
and its new line on crusted sand

brought here through
swells that built across the sound,
carrying each signal
of ships, of currents,
fish and whales,
the deep memory of ancient water
and the surface memory
that knows the oneness
to which it constantly returns

If it is art
it will touch your skin
in just that way —
so much truth laid down
in the communion of your viewing.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 4, 2015

Vessel by Jennifer McCurdy, photo by Julius Friedman