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At Work Near the Pacific
by
Grace Hughes Chappell


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the cold immeasurable water
is a blue lamé
seduction slipped over the noontime sea
and the water lies uncut against the shore,
a whole piece.
From my table I watch the rock islands
like buoys anchored there in the light, and
I pick at my nails.
Drake sailed on a blue journey once—
it was summer—past our whitened shore,
our hills, our heat mounding up
colossi of fog beyond exploring
beyond climbing, and
his crew idled, too, and drowsed,
the interior slipping past. 
 
© by Grace Hughes Chappell.
Used with the author's permission.
 

Grace Hughes Chappell says, over the years, she’s been a mom, a daughter, and a sister, has taken care of ‘things’ (house repairs, car repairs, relationship repairs), worked as a private tutor, an English teacher, a travel agent, a receptionist, a telephone book delivery-person, a house cleaner, a reader to the visually impaired, a caterer, a snow-shoveler, and a writer. Her work is widely published and she is the author of ten mile creek almanac. For 50-some years, Grace and her husband, Don, have lived in northern California, in Mendocino County, and in San Francisco but, as of 2024, they have relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to be near family. Grace's advice for a good life is to be kind, enjoy your family and friends, don’t be a drag (laugh a lot, sing, dance, do anything
that involves music), read a lot, learn to cook a decent meal, watch sunsets and birds and dogs, find something to do for which you have some aptitude, then be willing to work hard at it!


Post New Comment:
Jo:
Beautiful poem.
Posted 01/27/2013 01:20 PM
lisa honecker:
seductive and starved simultaneously--images clear.
Posted 01/27/2013 11:58 AM
wordsmith:
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
Posted 01/27/2013 09:34 AM
KevinArnold:
Wonderful work, rich with surprise.
Posted 01/27/2013 09:28 AM
Janet Leahy:
A meditative piece, exquisite language, lovely to reread and be wrapped in the calm of the poem.
Posted 01/27/2013 08:46 AM


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