COMMENTS FROM CONTEST JUDGE MARIE KANE:

This exuberant poem captures two views of the sea - calm and peaceful and riotous and angry. The use of personification is especially appreciated in this poem.

The poem consists of seven quatrains that reveal two "faces" of the sea. It begins with an original metaphor:

Most days the grey-blue plains are unreadable -
Lapping silently as desired
A touch of warm, a sprinkle of cold
That is all you get.

But then the days where all is calm
A cruiser sailing by

Here the sea is as silent as the vast Mid-Western plains "where all is calm" - enough so that "cruisers" can "sail by." The speaker points out that the sea's waves are "lapping" and doing so "as desired." This personification of the ocean that does as it pleases is fulfilled throughout the rest of the poem.

In the next three stanzas, the poet acknowledges another view of the sea - its ability to display "fury." It "releases its anger" when it might take someone "down into the dark depths" where "you are the lesser one," while the "strong and powerful" ocean "grasps with soaking hands." The speaker also claims that the "sea will surely tear apart!" until it "ceases to toss you like a rag doll." And then, unexpectedly, the sea "suddenly stops" and dons its "expressionless mask [once] again." The poet enables the reader to experience the strength and force of the ocean.

The speaker displays enjoyment and a newfound wariness of the ocean in the last two stanzas. "Seashells" can "wash ashore for castles," waves can create "happy surfers," while "silky ribbons of water caress your hands" as "you enjoy your ocean day." Realization of the other ocean, the ocean that "is waiting / the monster still … there" is new knowledge that the speaker registers by the end of the poem. He or she accepts that "the ocean's face is unreadable" and that "its faces lie in slumber."

This very effective use of personification and metaphor give the ocean two views that coexist within its flat and rough seas.

Thank you for the privilege of reading your work!

Marie Kane
Final Judge, Sarah Mook Poetry Contest
engmrk@aol.com