Janthina janthina

Janthina janthina

You cluster in the sea-grass,
your raft a cloud of froth.
Your mantles formed the spiral;
the ocean brought you forth,

and apex-down you’re bobbing,
a bauble in the foam,
the sand your desolation,
the turquoise sea your home.

But now your shells are bleaching;
you shatter on the strand,
or break as I am walking,
too brittle for my hand,

yet shell, you are my altar –
by you I bend my knee –
a talisman of water,
a violet of the sea.

Poem by Giles Watson, 2014.