Complete Issue - Shippensburg University

17Walking Into the OceanAs the Ocean Arrives atCape MayH e r b Pe r k i n s -Fr e d e r i c kThe undulating, untouched seaextends beyond my sight;its surface forms a ceaseless changeexpressed upon a deeper calm.But closer in, it rises, curls,creates a rolling arch of glass,a cavern in a liquid hilladvancing angled to the shorewhere it boils to a broken wave,expires, rumbling to a sigh.With countless clapping, splashing soundsit seethes, then shimmers to a frothof shifting overlapping foams:island clouds that shrink, then racethe trailing edge of ocean’s breathas streams of sand and shells and stonesinscribe a many-channeled script,a fluid verse upon the floor,where each expression left by surgeis washed, remade, revised once more…Herb Perkins-Frederick graduated from Bloomsburg University with a degree in psychology. He works as a computerprogrammer and adjunct faculty at Bucks County Community College. His psychological analysis of theunderpinnings of poetry has led to several new poetry forms, one example of which is above.