You were lighter than the wind
In my hand
Your hollowed places, and the hole in you
Through which I could see my own skin
Opalescent gleaming, shell-like pearling
So breathtakingly breakable,
Yet forming a tower, a pyramid
For the tiny things of life
Spiraled with gold
And earthern colours.
At one point I dropped you
So small you were I thought
I’d lost you
Were you really a shell, or a leaf
Or a whole universe in half a centimeter
Of sea-bottomed spiraling
Pretending to be something solid
Not quite white,
But shining.
I expected to have chosen something bigger,
Something bolder, less broken.
I don’t really know anything
Except a shining, sea-bottomed smallness
And a becoming which can
Hold everything.
Eileen Neil
A lyrical and beautiful poem, Eileen. Well done!
Thank you Bill. That means a lot to me.