Lane Chasek

Lane Chasek is a freelance writer and editor living in Omaha, Nebraska. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Broke Bohemian, Contrast, Jokes Review, and others.

The Ocean Becomes Self-Aware

Shoreline receding
like a well-aged hairline,
water’s slow lapping
leaves the earth’s surface
fuller with water,
water ready to erase a coast,
your house boat, your boastful coastal city.

The water carves a peninsula
in the shape of a giant
middle finger. On the opposite
end of the continent,
that same continuous,
interconnected body
of water carves a phallus-
shaped estuary to show off its juvenile prowess.

Over the entire planet, a single continent
is shaped into the likeness
of a nude woman spreading her legs,
all for a cheap laugh.
The ocean has gained sentience,
but it’s not intelligent. Not yet.