Waves You Can Check

Stand on the deck of a boat
On a grey but dry, still day,
Well out to sea. Watch the waves.

Turn your head. Let your gaze skip
From place to place, waves on waves,
All more or less the same, but

All on the move, none the same.
This is not a rare scene, just
A place where it’s on your scale,

No need for a lens, a time lapse,
High-tech labs, a vast tube ringed
Through miles of rock in Earth’s crust—

You’ve got it on your scale here
On the deck—you, one small speck
With more waves than you can check.