Words from Inside My Head

In the dream I am a small child

flowering in dresses

and gleaming patent

leather shoes.

Love is the game played

in and out of water,

he’s teaching me to swim,

as I wade in, he flies away,

She sings of missing him while

putting me to sleep,

I lie face down on a blanket

listening for him in seashells

Grown, I walk the shore barefoot, at dusk

 looking for the teeth of the shark,

tiny shells and bits of broken glass

 time has turned to jewels

This all may be true

but in my heart I am waiting

for a floating bottle to arrive

with a message from him,

just for me.

Still dreaming, further and further

I wander, singing old songs.

I am the infant daughter

with sandy colored skin

I am the pilot’s girlchild

learning how to swim.

I am the widow’s daughter,

all that and nothing more

I am the drowning woman

giving birth upon the shore.

1970-1980