A bit of shell has broken off
like a continent, like Pangea
drifting apart. Light enters
the beached shell, where water
once pooled, where, earlier still,
a muscle oared through the deep.
A bit of broken shell, here
and there, near the apex
of the spiral, and a pagoda
emerges, watchtower
of the tsunami.
At the other end, the shell
extends a single prong, like
a toe, like mother of pearl

testing the waters.