A shanty by the sea sits high on a hill
The old lady knits as she
Watches the otters in the
Brilliant blue waters…
The seashore is scattered
With shells and cockles, sun
Reflecting colors of pink and
Pastels, mist from the ocean
Drifts through its windows,
Furniture is scanty in the shanty
A whitewashed table and chair
A patchwork spread with a
Spring mattress for a bed…
The old woman is burdened with
The forces that chase a child as I
Shadows in a deep place in an
Underwater grave wash the tide
Wrapping seaweed about my body
Reaching out, my shame pulls me
down to the ocean floor
But not all is bad in this journey
Ocean creatures are my fellow
Travelers…
Sea turtles swimming in a garden
Of anemones, their tentacles dance…
Sea horses prance to the ocean’s
Song, the fiddler crab strums his
Fiddle…
Shaded by the lattice with purple
Clematis,
Her pantry shelves lined with
Jars of crisp apple and pear
She is tired as she sits in her chair,
Her white hair pulled into
A bun, with her hump back and
Cane she walks down the lane
Once again rising, I call her name
She answers back, “It takes time to
Be born, life is a test, you are not
Loved less”
“When you pass through deep waters,
*Remember you are not alone”…
The encumbrance of seaweed is
Removed…
I am tossed on the shore, I am free
Once more I look for the old woman
She is no where in sight, could
She have been there to encourage
Me through the stormy nights?
When I passed through deep
Waters giving me the promise
I would be alright?
*Promise in the Book of Isaiah 43:2
Copyright (c) 2015 by Donna Nieri
Excerpts taken from the above poem
