What do you bring to tea with the sea? 

I know she likes dust 

And rain

And ships 

And occasionally a few bodies

Serving fish seems blasphemous

and she’s allergic to oil  

Cake, while delightful, becomes soggy in her hands

as do cookies and sandwiches  

(and no one likes a soggy sandwich) 

Seeing as how even a rowboat won’t fit in my picnic basket, 

And I have no intention of drowning just to be a nice guest 

There is nothing left for it but to bring her a cup of rainwater and a packet of dust 

And, since we’ll be sitting on her pacific board, perhaps some flowers from the land by the Atlantic 

I can only hope that she enjoys these morsels 

And they are not lost entirely in her vastness before she has a chance to savor them