Samos
On the beach where
the Syrians landed
then walked along the shore
to the police station
leaving their long boat
and orange jackets behind,
where the sea eases
back and forth
against the land
as if trying to
make peace with it,
I collected marble pebbles
that the waves had shaped
and took them home
to friends with a warning
not to leave them where
they might be mistaken
for something sweet.
They have been
pressed in the mantle,
shattered by fire,
rolled in the ocean.
These beautiful fragments
will crack your teeth.