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Two Images

Reading this Emily Dickinson poem brought to mind an old man walking his dog on the beach - one I had been to not too long ago. The poem paints a picture of sand, sea, human and dog. Each reader will fill in scenes they have seen but never had the words to describe how exactly the waves recede 

And bowing – with a Mighty look –

At me – The Sea withdrew –

Then upon a second reading, I recalled the day we saw a stingray caught in a low tide by fishing poles. Everyone kept their distance and some of us stood aside to see if the water would rise high enough for the stingray to return to the ocean. That did not happen  it is as if the sea had withdrawn too far with no plans to return. The home of that fish had left her behind - a situation a human would not be able to imagine. We leave our homes behind, go out into the world. This fish had tried to her own peril. 

Two images of the sea one Dickinson poem on a cold day far removed from beaches and summer. 

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