Heavy, tormented waves,
tossing in the rising tide
and smashing on the beach in white surf
and masses of phosphorous.
The twilight of a dark night at sea.
Vivid jags of lightening
showing us to each other.
Out until up to our shoulders,
the waves dashed over our heads.
Swimming, swimming out to infinity—
racing in under the pulsing water
to the solitary light on shore.
Swimming far out we slipped off
our bathing suits and let
the water caress our naked forms.
But the heavy waves swept us in.
(Alice Dunbar-Nelson’s diary, 1929)
Verbatim Poetry 