We gathered
At
The lighthouse at Piedras Blancas
Called by an unknowable
Incandescent
Calling.
Carpenters
Electricians
Bums
Drifters
Grifters
Women doctors
Professors
Rangers
Mothers of young children
Truck drivers
Salesmen
Rascals
And the occasional party crashers
And
Me
A poet and wanderer by trade.

We were called to the ocean
To see.
We didn't know why
We traveled from far and wide
To
The spot at the lighthouse at Piedras Blancas
North of Cambria Pines
South of San Simeon
On the California coast
To
The spot we were summoned
To
Witness the rapidly out of control growing
Of the white mass on the skin of the ocean
Consuming
Wasting
Inch by inch
Foot by foot
Mile by mile
Devouring the ocean
Cells out of control
Determined by one pure drive
The drive to survive
Which ultimately would cause
All to die.

The voice we had heard
Was mother ocean
Wailing to the
Sun and moon
And
Stars
For her offspring
She would never see again...