Winter at West Long Branch, New Jersey

I look out of the window at the deep

blue/gray of the ocean, the pampas grass,

the gray roof of the deck,

the sky with its painted clouds.

Even the smooth lines of the white

stair seem drawn into this

landscape. How soothing

it is to watch the water move

in its slow way, to feel the world

wind down from its frantic pace,

to lift my face to light so clear

it scrubs the world clean.