excerpt from Variations on the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Zoe Dickinson

high tide: 2.61m

waves collapse in a shower
of golden coins
that hit dry stones 
and vaporize –

a different kind of petrichor
god’s blood              this
rich with microbes
and ozone

falling tide: 2.46m

the whole world is underwater
tiny drops of rain dimple waves
each drop causes 
                       its own 
                                capillary wave
on the swell’s temporary surface 

falling tide: 1.9m 

rocks rise 
crack daybreak
into ripples

like stones thrown
upward
by a little boy
at the bottom of the sea

low tide: 1.63m

one gull on a barnacled rock, spotlit 
by rising sun
looks momentous, about to dispense 
judgement 
                  or assign a quest

last night I read about bleaching coral –
84% now          white and hollowing –
and I couldn’t stop sobbing

this morning, water 
almost still
                   lies latent
waiting 
for the tug of gravity
                                    to turn

The Science

This excerpt is from a work-in-progress based on close observation of the Vancouver Island coastline, on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen peoples. Recording these observations on a daily basis, along with tide level data, has gradually deepened my understanding of this place – the ocean’s rhythms, both macro (tide patterns) and micro (individual waves), the ecosystems it supports, and my own place in those systems. My intention in using tide levels to situate each observation was also to escape European ideas of time and tune in to temporal markers that are more meaningful in this environment. See Jenny Odell’s book Saving Time (Random House, 2023) for an excellent analysis of time as a colonial tool.

Tidal data is sourced from Tide-Forecast.com and the Government of Canada’s Victoria Harbour observation station. Canada has been making systematic tide level observations since 1893. This data allows not only for predictions essential to shipping and fishing activities, but also for analysis of changing sea levels over time – an important part of our growing understanding of climate change and its impacts.

To create this excerpt, I arranged a selection of observations along the trajectory of one tidal movement (from high tide to low); however, each fragment is actually pulled from various points throughout the year and chosen for thematic resonance. 

The Poet

Zoe Dickinson (she/her) has published two award-winning chapbooks: Public Transit and intertidal: poems from the littoral zone. Her poetry is rooted in BC’s Pacific coastline, where she is a manager at Russell Books and Artistic Director emerita of the Planet Earth Poetry Reading Series. She is co-editor of the anthology After: Poems in Dialogue, forthcoming from Caitlin Press, and her first full-length poetry collection, Staff Picks for Invertebrates, is forthcoming from Guernica Editions in 2026.

Next poem: First Aid by Linda Conroy