26 July 2026

By Philip Kuepper

The shadows of seagulls moving
across the ocean’s surface
dissolved among the waves
like wafers on tongues.
There was communion
of the elements, communion
not unlike the shadows
of oars when their blades
touch the water and dissolve
in the mix of solid and liquid.
All is connected,
I, for instance,
to any star in any distant
galaxy in the Universe.
I am moved by that star,
as the rower is moved
by the mixing of oar and water,
as the seagull is moved
by the ocean on its shadow.
All is always
in some form of communion
in this vast room
of the Universe.

(18 July 2026)