Estuary—Luci Shaw

We’ve invited the renowned Christian poet, Luci Shaw, to take over the Substack this week. Luci is the author of more than 35 books of poetry and these poems come from her latest volume, An Incremental Life.

For more poetry from Luci Shaw, pick up her new book, An Incremental Life (Paraclete Press), or order a copy of the Rabbit Room’s book of interviews with well-known Christian poets, An Axe For the Frozen Sea.

Estuary

by Luci Shaw from An Incremental Life.

October, the nights are turning crystal clear.
Evening, and we drive down to the waterfront
to investigate what was announced in our
morning paper—the formation of a new estuary
that cuts a fresh channel between an old, freshwater
stream and the salty tides of Bellingham Bay.

The news, fresh and intriguing enough for us
to want to investigate, drives us shoreward.
Above us a sickle moon’s up-tilted crescent seems
to pour, as from a glowing bowl, a fresh flow of light.

We look at each other, a wordless glance
of agreement that says—Here we are, together
experiencing this magical evening, our old eyes
viewing a celestial transaction as if for the first time.
And, as the tides pour in and out, again, again,
our two joined lives create and acknowledge their own
intimate exchange, our very human intertidal flow.

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Copyright: Luci Shaw. Used by permission of Paraclete Press

Luci Shaw was born in London, England, in 1928. A poet and essayist whose writing has appeared in numerous literary and religious journals, in 2013 she received the tenth annual Denise Levertov Award for Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University. The author of over thirty-five books of poetry and creative non-fiction, since 1986 she has been Writer in Residence at Regent College, Vancouver. She lives with her husband, John Hoyte, in Bellingham, WA.

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