the sea of romantic fires on the gravel beaches

The horizon is the concern here the 

distance applying color the bright crackling 

of surfaces of light and the spreading 

of the light as it surges the sea 

within its broad chest the putrid sludge 

of the fishmeal factories the sea of romantic 

fires on the gravel beaches travelers 

now losing themselves forever 

in a distant view the sea in the harbors, the docks 

the container areas licking the sea 

beneath cranes all heaving the 

homesickness nightwards the sea of moray eels 

lurking back behind a rock 

the sea of the deep with a hidden image 

for the dreams of the sea 

that vanished in the sea bottomless 

the trenches above it all a mosaic of flakes 

streaming tough thick field of dirt the sea 

that is so well concealed gasping for air within 

its broad chest and snatching at
itself. 

 

[Anja Kampmann {1983- }, 'About the Sea'; trans. from the German by Wieland Hoban]