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North Shore, a poem by Charlotte Melin



North Shore 


This beach is all sound,

a crescent bay where 

boundaries converge—

birch and balsam,

rhyolite and basalt,

pink stone and water. 

Opposite forces 

layer the shorescape 

in waves and shoulders.

Resonance surrounds.

Listening to it sing,

I try to separate voices

in the cacophony but

hear braided together 

the tone of the lake’s

liquid muscle and

the timbre of solid rock.

Each tentative step 

on such uneven terrain 

takes focus and care. 

Round stones slide,

tumble perpetually,

crashing surf surges

out of the depths.

Echoes, turbulence 

amplify yearning 

for profound quiet,

for a walk beyond 

our mad divisions 

into a vaster space.


Charlotte Melin grew up in Indiana and returns to visit. Retired from the University of Minnesota, she lives in Northfield and has published widely about German poetry, the environmental humanities, and teaching.