Does the Sea Dream?

Noh Theater, patriarchy and coastal vulnerability.

Detail from “Are We Lost?” First state Aviva Rahmani 450 x 303 mm woodblock print 2025

In retaliation for global warming, the sea seems to be coming for coastal humanity. This is not because the sea is vindictive and malevolent. It is because the sea has always been in conversation with continental coastlines, giving and taking sediment to keep estuaries alive. Scientifically that exchange is understood as tidal flushing. Metaphorically, I think that is the healthy in and out breathing of the sea with the land. But today that may be more the dream of the sea alone, speaking in her sleep, rather than still be her reality. Perhaps the sea still dreams of a former glorious time, when she held power over coastal change and humans humbly acknowledged her power. Perhaps it is we, who have tried to vanquish the sea’s power, equally ignoring her dreams and our reality, deafening ourselves to her voice by hardening our coastlines, who have created a crisis.