Ocean Phoenix

My Imaginary Menagerie

Ocean Phoenix

(for Pluma)

Your roots go deep now,
Grounded in the watery basin I
Know as the Mother of All Life, you stand
And contain all who ever died here.
You hatched from the ashes where
A hot lava flow scorched all life on the 
Way to form cold boulders on the ocean's
Floor. It cracked: you rose from the blueness
And trailed a tail plume that from within is
Blazing yet, reddening horizons without--
An *Artemis* nearing our atmosphere's limit.

About this poem:

This poem is a “Golden Shovel” that contains a short poem within it. I used a haiku by Santoku Taneda, translated by John Stevens, and each word of the short poem became the end of a line in my longer poem.

The haiku reads,

"Now I stand here,
Where the ocean's blueness
Is without limit."

Many thanks to my friend Pluma for inspiring the subject of the poem and to Stuart Anderson and Vera for introducing me to the Golden Shovel structure. Also thanks to Vera for sharing poetry, both her own and that of others like me!

Easter and the recent launch of the Artemis mission seemed like good timing for posting this poem. May we all so rise!