If I hadn't seen it for myself
would I believe it?
the ocean's surface
turned a sheet of gold
aglitter in the summer sun
stretching from Menemsha Bight
to the horizon
while offshore
a tall two-masted schooner
her spars and hull pure white
but dull against the golden bed
in which she lay
in all the years I've walked
the Vineyard's beaches
and marvelled at the ocean's
shifting moods
its ever-changing colors
only this one time
was I gifted with a vision so celestial
as if transported straight to paradise