They are covering the water,
altering the sea, trucking in
tons of sand and gravel, boulders
to broaden the beach
for viewing decks, business stalls,
and volleyball on the sand,
pushing back the ocean
from the land;
men in hard hats and orange vests,
minions of the lords at City Hall
without a soul, with blueprints
to shrink our sight of wide
open water sweeping far
to meet the sky;
officials, and cocksure consultants
with PhDs from foreign universities,
disregarding verified alarms
for small-island nations,
the seasons of habagat and amihan,
the monsoons’ immutable ways
with wind and tide
where land and timeless ocean meet,
(and elsewhere in frigid regions
polar caps and glaciers in retreat).
All that outlay, all that labor
to widen the shore…what
they reclaim will be reclaimed and more.
Nature’s will will be.
There is no taming of the sea.