Meant

To change, to swap. To hold as one.
To share. To not be rare. To share
So much it seems too low, too dull.

To be in the midst, in the crowd.
All these link to the sense of mean,
If not from the same source. No name

Means, no word, no sign, if not shared.
But what is meant is not the same—
Close at best. What’s meant shifts and shifts

As all things, all waves, shift and shift.
That’s the point. One wave makes no sea,
But no wave can be just one wave,

And this isle rides in mist and storms
And seems to rise as it grows green.
What’s meant is not what is; what is

Means no such thing. Ropes of seiche waves
Go to show each pitched force at play.
We don’t mean what we meant to say.