When the water glints like onyx
       shushing the dock, empty
            sailboats huddle and rock,

when a red-winged
       blackbird tricks us
               with its flare of dahlia,

lavender sand dollar
       washes ashore
               unbroken, when

the amber moon swells,
       catches us turned in
               on our worry,

and the horizon
       reveals a violet-
               orange ribbon,

the electric blue plankton fill,
       overfill with twilight,
               minuscule radiant bodies

limn the black bay.
       We gather
               on the gritty deck.

Burdened by our hidden
       unkindnesses, we turn
               our eyes toward illumination.