Landscape With Figures
          The irresponsive silence of the land
          The irresponsive sounding of the sea
          Speak both one message...
                    —Christina Georgina Rossetti

The marsh has moods—it is a large flat canvas
        where there is more sky than land—and
the sea sometimes no more than a ripple of surf
        on the rim of horizon—yet
open to winds and tides, it can suddenly fill
        with drowning depths of cold grey water:
the silence of the land engulfed by soundings
        of the sea.

Cows are details, small irregular brown-white
        lakes of colour, until—
up close, we see those wide slack mouths
        dripping saliva in wet threads,
flesh-pink udders swinging heavy, big brown
        pond-water eyes staring.

Huge englobed eyes, staring without expectation
        of response, but not indifferent;
passible, almost human, holding us, as if being
        individual in this world
were important.

Copyright © 2006 Eileen Berry All rights reserved
from Carquinez Poetry Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission