Sterling Warner is a shortlist winner nominee of the 2024 Adelaide Literary Award Contest in the category of Poetry, with his poem titled Seaboard Magic.

An author, poet, educator, Pushcart Nominee, and emeritus English Professor, Sterling Warner’s works have appeared in such literary magazines, journals, and anthologies as the Galway Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, Lothlórien Poetry Journal, Ekphrastic Journal Review, and Medusa’s Kitchen. Warner’s volumes of poetry include Rags and Feathers, Without Wheels, ShadowCat, Edges, Memento Mori, Serpent’s Tooth, Flytraps: Poems, “Cracks of Light: Pandemic Poetry & Fiction, Halcyon Days: Collected Fibonacci (2023) and Abraxas: Poems (2024)—as well as Masques: Flash Fiction & Short Stories. He currently is working on a new volume of poetry as well as a collection of fiction, When not writing or hosting “virtual” poetry/fiction readings, he turns wood, enjoys fishing, and relaxes while boating along the Hood Canal in Washington.

Seaboard Magic

I. Allure

Beachfront bravado to the left and right

waves curl onto shore shifting sand

wiping hand drawn engravings in grit

as clean as a dull grey etch-a-sketch,

leaving a damp coastline, pristine

and refreshed while high and low tides

move in sets of seven, bowing to the moon’s

majesty, rising, rolling, and crashing

like a seaside symphony conducted

by Luna and her gravitational forces

like a solar maestro—directing

heaven sent crescendos exerted

from the nocturnal orb or diurnal daystar

rays enchanting Jean and I as we walked

along the brackish strand arm in arm,

examining remains of kelp forests torn,

severed, and dislodged by brutal currents

by tropical tempests, and El Niño storms:

violent

dynamic

destructive.

II. Charmed

Cooling tired, bare feet in sudsy surf

Jean and I imagine life on a deserted island

while we search for elusive messages bottled

by humans, battered by natural elements,

propelled by Poseidon from coral groves

to dryland with other oceanic treasures washed

aground, rest shoulder to shoulder next to

empty shells, horseshoe crab exoskeletons,

smooth rocks, sand dollars, and starfish

that frame a familiar yet extraordinary stone

with a halo; gulls circle overhead as we

picked up the quartz gem, kissed it thrice

impulsively shut our eyes, and conferred

silent wishes upon the castaway tetrahedron

worn by pebbles, time, and space, then tossed

the worn talisman back into the saltwater fray

lowering our heads in reverence, listening,

breathing the Pacific Ocean’s ethereal song:

rhythmic

soothing

enduring.

Sterling Warner