Tide

by Heather Nanni


The tide moves in with certainty
and violence that is difficult to detect
when it is rolling, not thrashing,
when it slides in gently
caressing the silken pebbles
lolling upon the shore.

It is difficult to spot the rage hidden
beneath the soft lapping. But
I hear it; I see
its relentless motion
onward, onward
onward until it reaches its destination
and slaps it,
tenderly sometimes. Then
after a moment, it pulls back
out, spent. I cannot hear it go.
It slips under the cover of oncoming
waves and retreats,
silent and, perhaps, guilty.


* * * * *

Heather Nanni is a writer and college professor who resides in New England with her husband and two children. She is the author of The Cat In The Wall and Other Dark and Twisted Tales of Women in Strange Situations and her creative and academic works have been published in Her View from Home, LD Access/AECOM Manual for Literacy Practitioners, Haunted Waters Press: Splash and on numerous commercial websites. Heather holds a bachelor's degree in English from Fordham University and a master's degree from the Applied Educational Psychology: Reading Specialist program at Teachers College, Columbia University.