Still Life with Eel Grass, Sand

By BRANDI KATHERINE HERRERA

setting sun, splayed

elegant

as fresh catch—

point of view, standing figure:

 

high-tide, haystack.

 

waves intermittent flare

echoes bonfire,

salmon—

 

cap, boots, sweater.

 

distance plummets,

ebbs

toward the water.

 

point of view, rückenfigur:

 

sea-kelp, razor-clam.

 

unhurried,

a male figure

studies

 

parallax, point a:

 

sun reflects water,

recedes

water mirrors sun.

 

separately, figures

fear

their solitary—

 

dogs bark, chase

distance—

waves and transparencies.

 

parallax, point b:

 

sand envelopes shell,

swallows

shell settles on sand.

 

figures move in,

gulls move

out.

 

obscured

direct positives,

exposed.

 

kettle, kindling.

 

i make photographs,

cook

in silence.

 

he sits

by the windows

throwing

lamp-light, glances.

 

 

 

Brandi Katherine Herrera holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Pacific University, and is the author of the chapbook “the specificity of early spring shadows” (Bedouin Books, 2013). 

Photo by author