I did not expect to find you here,
among these little shells and things
skittering from shore to shore
in a vast eternity of sea-foam;
but here you are, light years
from when I met you,
seeing the sea with eyes
still open to astonishment.

I did not expect to see you,
with your face lit up in eager joy,
nor to feel the fading day being charged again
by the sudden voltage of your touch;
but here you are, as the night undresses
in an alcove of dreams and moonbeams,
uttering the long tidal gasp
of a longing echoed from every shore.

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Gasp was featured on The Chained Muse website, in a post titled Waves of You & Other Poetry, where it received some very positive feedback.

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Email from The Madrigal Press:

Dear Martin,
We found your work to be a truly striking, eloquent, and exceptional piece of art in the reading of our submissions, and we would be delighted to offer your poem ‘Gasp’ acceptance into our Verity issue.
The swelling emotion, the elemental grandeur, your delicacy of reference to the subject.  It is measured and marvellous.  It is, quite frankly, exactly the type of piece we had in mind when drawing up the idea for this issue, and we cannot commend you enough on the sheer loveliness, thought, and talent you have put into this work. It would be an honour to publish it within this collection.
Warmly, 
Helen and Tomás
THE EDITORS
The Madrigal Press, Dublin.