The poem "Gabu" by Carlos A. Angeles creates a vivid image of the sea and coastline at Gabu, Ilocos Norte, portraying the sea as restless, powerful, and destructive. It depicts the sea battering the shoreline with a "battering restlessness" and "tidal fury," illustrating nature's chaos and impermanence. The sea's constant crashing shapes the landscape, leaving it grey, dead, and marked by the "spilt salt of its heart," symbolizing loss and the passage of time. This imagery evokes a sense of the relentless forces of nature and time that erode even the most vital and loved things. Beyond the physical scene, the poem uses the sea as a metaphor for life itself-life's struggles, chaos, and inevitable changes. The relentless sea represents life's challenges and the passage of time, while the shore symbolizes a place of stability or the afterlife. The recurring tide suggests a continuous search for stability and an eternal resting place, reflecting human desires for permanence amid life's transience. In essence, the poem creates an image of a turbulent sea that embodies the harsh realities of life and time, conveying themes of loss, endurance, and the hope for eventual peace or rest at the "habit of shores"