"Sand Flesh and Sky" by Clarence Major

Remember, instead of a theme we’re letting one poem lead us to the next this month. The phrase “trembling sky” from yesterday’s poem leads us to this beautiful piece. However right or wrong, today’s poem makes me think of Old Man and the Sea. I can’t even remember if I liked that book (I did read it in the 8th grade) but I do know that I love when the form and language of a poem or prose reflects the content.
Like the scene it describes, today’s poem is deceptively simple as it's marked by stripped down and solid language. But hang out with those metaphors and you'll realize there's nothing simple about it. It's a fairly accessible poem but rich in imagery and meaning so take your time. Just remember, it takes more than going to the thesaurus and picking the biggest or fanciest words to make a poem poetic.

Sand Flesh and Sky
by Clarence Major

Our ropes are the roots
of our life. We fish
low in the earth,
the river beneath runs through our veins,
blue and cold in a riverbed.

When the sun comes up,
the moon moves slowly to the left.

I tie the logs and limbs together,
holding them in place.

The ocean beats them
smooth like rock.
Here my sense of time is flat.

I find in a strip of damp sand
footprints and marks of hands,
and torn pieces of flesh.

Night is a beast.
The tide moves, gushing
back and forth.

Sunlight touches our faces,
turning us, turning us, turning us
in our morning sleep.

1976

Found at: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/180518