O at the Edges

Musings on poetry, language, perception, numbers, food, and anything else that slips through the cracks.

Saltwater

Posted on October 25, 2019 by robert okaji

Saltwater

What if you close your eyes
and your throat relinquishes

the morning’s bright
fingers, freed from bruises.

Suppose that particular night
never happened, the way

a wave crashing ashore
empties itself and trickles

back in separate communities,
mingling yet aloof, a

diminishing cortege. What
is the question? Take this

spoon. Fill it with saltwater.
Upend it into the pail. Observe.

“Saltwater” was first published in Nine Muses Poetry in May 2018.

19 thoughts on “Saltwater”

Avia Tinder on October 24, 2019 at 9:32 pm said:

WOW.

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- robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 11:15 am said:
  
  Thank you!
  
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  - Avia Tinder on October 26, 2019 at 5:37 pm said:
    
    Welcome.
    
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Many of One on October 25, 2019 at 11:28 am said:

can I switch it up w/sodium bicarbonate??

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- robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 11:15 am said:
  
  It’d be salty either way… 🙂
  
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  - Many of One on October 26, 2019 at 11:18 am said:
    
    shhh…just swallow!! [haha]
    
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    - robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 11:20 am said:
      
      And quickly!
      
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      - Many of One on October 26, 2019 at 11:23 am said:
        
        no letting it hang from the bottom lip & suck it up real quick…….theatrics won’t do the trick….haha
        
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ivor20 on October 25, 2019 at 7:17 pm said:

What if I drop the spoon, do I still make a splash…..

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- robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 11:16 am said:
  
  Not if there’s no one to hear. 🙂
  
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E on October 25, 2019 at 9:37 pm said:

It’s an unsettling mystery…do we get one more clue?

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- robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 11:17 am said:
  
  You must fill in the blanks. 🙂
  
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  - E on October 26, 2019 at 11:37 am said:
    
    With all the possibilities in the ocean.
    
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    - robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 12:41 pm said:
      
      A minor task. 🙂
      
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      - E on October 26, 2019 at 12:45 pm said:
        
        😁
        
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Ali Grimshaw on October 26, 2019 at 11:21 am said:

Robert, thank you for your words and the empty spaces you left between some of them.

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- robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 11:24 am said:
  
  Thanks, Ali. I’ve come to realize that I live in those spaces.
  
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  - Ali Grimshaw on October 26, 2019 at 11:26 am said:
    
    That doesn’t surprise me. They are as necessary as water
    
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    - robert okaji on October 26, 2019 at 11:32 am said:
      
      They are, indeed!
      
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