The Myth of the Millionth Wave

James Michael Robbins

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It begins with the loneliness
Of the solitary figure in the cliffs
Staring as the waves swell
Toward their deaths

The unbearable waiting
For a return from the sea
Even when it is know
There is no return

That grows and is dashed
Over and over
On the rocks of the mind
And grows again

Until belief in the vigil
Becomes more than the vigil itself
A reason for expectation
And the counting begins.

The 2River View, 1_1 (Fall 1996)