Beachfront Prophecy
by Marda Messick
A handful of white auger shells
plucked from the tide of the tourist beach,
tiny spirals like a sea monster’s baby teeth.
Auguries of a dying ocean.
Beside the road a ghost crab shell,
a silver cross with purple angel wings.
A “drive carefully” sign.
The face of Jesus in his crown of thorns
on a ministry van parked at the diner.
Hebrews 13:3 and Conviction in black letters.
In the new heavens and new earth
the bivalves reunite with their missing half shells.
The ghost crab burrows with ten living legs.
The passenger flung from the car
flies to glory in his perfect body.
Leviathan sports in the crystal sea.
The convicts bend to pick up shells.
Jesus cooks them breakfast on the beach.
Marda Messick is a poet and accidental theologian living in Tallahassee, Florida. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Christian Century, Delmarva Review, Literary Journal, and other publications.
