EARTH DAY: A Tribute to the Healing Power of Our Oceans

DARK WATERS

From the little girl fighting a raging undertow,

To a tween by a shaded stream where she'd go with the flow.

Or as she looked for tadpoles; Back Swimmers in the fens,

Water was not her enemy, but a wondrous friend.

~

Skating on forbidden ponds,

As a teenager who felt all sounds

She swam away from angry frowns,

And sought adventure in shadowy places,

Careless minds and unlit spaces.

~

Dimmed lights that spread across a city’s black sky;

Cavernous sewers; wet concrete walls.

Still no fear, no reason to ask why,

Until shadow figures' final cries; towering falls.

~

Refuge found on sands of magic,

But never forgotten: victims, pasts tragic;

Nor all those who lost their lives,

Under an island's blue and sunny skies.

~

Years along she swims in capricious seas,

Though dusted with strands of gray,

Saddled with weakened knees;

A lonely girl has found a lost friend,

The older woman can begin again.

And the poet who sees surface plums atop crystal alters,

Can now embrace the depths of shadow waters.

 ***

Originally written to promote my novel, Shadowwater, 2013. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 For more info about my books, please go to www.shadowwater.net